We got the long form, here are the questions:

Person 1

1. Whats the persons name?

2. What is the persons teleohone number

3. What is the persons sex?

4. What is the persons age and what is the persons date of birth?

5. Is this person Spanish, Hispanic,Latino?

6. What is the persons race?

7. What is the persons marital status?

8.A. At any time since February 1, 2000 has this person attended regular school or college?

8.B. What grade level was this person attending?

9. What is the highest degree or level of school this person has completed?

10. What is this persons ancestory or ethnic origin?

11.A Does this person speak a language other than English at home?

11.B What language?

11. C. How well does this person speak English?

12. Where was this person born?

13. Is this person a CITIZEN of the United States?

14. When did this person come to live in the United States?

15.A. Did this person live in this house or apartment 5 years ago (on April 1, 1995)?

15.B. Where did this person live five years ago?

16. Does this person have any of the following long lasting conditions: A: blindness, deafness or severe hearing impairment? B: A condition that substantially limits one or more basic physical activities such as walking, climbing stairs, reaching, lifting, or carrying?

17. Because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition lasting 6 months or more, does this person have any difficulty in doing any of the following activities? A. Learning, remembering or concentrating? b. Dressing, bathing, or getting around inside the home? C. (Answer if this person is 16 years old or over) Going outside the home alone to shop or visit a doctors office? d. (Answer if this person is 16 years or older) Working at a job or business?

18. Was this person under 15 years of age on April 1, 2000?

19.A Does this person have his/her own grandchildren under the age of 18 living in this house or apartment?

19.B. Is this grandparent currently responsible for most of the basic needs of any grandchildren under the age of 18 who live in this house or apartment?

19.c. How long has this grandparent been responsible for these grandchildren?

20.A. Has this person ever served on active duty in the US Armed forces, military reserves or National Guard?

20.B. When did this person serve on active duty in the US Armed forces?

20.C. In total, how many years of active duty military service has this person had?

21. LAST WEEK id this person do any work for either pay or profit?

22. At what location did this person work LAST WEEK? A.(Address and phone)B. Name of city, and town.

23.A. How did this person usually get to work last week (Check car, van, other) 23.B. How many people including this person, usually rode to work in the car, truck or van LAST WEEK?

24.A. What time did this person usually leave home to go to work LAST WEEK?

24.B. How many minutes did it usually take this person to get from home to work last week?

(ANSWER QUESTIONS 25-26 FOR PERSONS WHO DID NOT WORK FOR PAY OR PROFIT LAST WEEK> OTHERS SKIP TO 27.)

25.A. Last week was this person on layoff from a Job?

25.B. Last week was this person temporarily absent from a job or business?

25.C. Has this person been informed that he or she will be recalled to work within the next 6 months OR been given a date to return to work?

25.D. Has this person been looking for work during the last 4 weeks?

25.E. LAST WEEK could this person have started a job if offered one, or returned to work if recalled?

26. When did this person last work, even if for a few days?

27. Industry or employer: A. For whom did this person work? B. What kind of business or industry was it? C. What kind of activity?

28. Occupation A. What kind of occupation was this person doing? B. What was the persons most important activity or duty?

29. Was this person: (lists 8 choices to check for kind of employment like state, fed, private, non profit)

30.A. Last year in 1999 did this person work at a job or business at any time?

30.B. How many weeks did this person work in 1999?

30C. During the weeks worked in 1999 how many hours did this person usually work each week?

31. Income in 1999 A.Wages, salary, commissions, bonuses, or tips from all jobs? (list amounts) B. Self-employed income from own nonfarn business or farm business, including proprietorships and partnerships? List amount. C. Interest, dividends, net rental income, royalty income, or income from estates and trusts. List even small amounts. D. Social Security or Railroad Retirement. E. Supplemental Security Income SSI). F. Any public assistance or welfare payments from the state or local welfare office? G. Retirement, surviivors or disability pensions? H. Any other sources of income received regularly such as Veterans payments, unemployment compensation, child support, or alimony?

32. What was this persons total income for 1999?

33. Is this a house, apartment, or mobile home?

34. Which best describes this building? (check kind of structure)

35. About when was this building first built? List year.

36. When did this person first move into this house, apartment or mobile home?

37. How many rooms do you have in this house or mobile home?

38. How many bedrooms do you have that is how many bedrooms would you list if this house, apartment, or house were on the market or for sale?

39. Do you have complete plumbing facilities in this house, apartment or mobile home, that is: 1) hot and cold piped water, 2) a flush toilet and 3) a bathtub or shower?

40. Do you have complete kitchen facilities in this house, apartment, or mobile home? 1) a sink with piped water 2) a range or stove, and 3) a refrigerator?

41. Is there telephone service available in this house, apartment, or mobile home from which you can make and receive phone calls?

42. Which fuel is used most for heating this house and apartment or mobile home?

43. How many automobiles, vans, and trucks of one-ton capacity or less are kept at this home for use by members of your household?

44. Answer only if this is a one faily house or mobil home - All others skip to 45. A. Is there a business (such as a store or barber shop or medical office on the peoperty? B. How many acres is this house or mobile home on? C. In 1999, what were the actual sales of all agriculture products from this property?

45. What are the annual costs of utilities and fuels for this house, apartment or mobile home? A. Electricity? B. Gas? C. Water and sewer? D. Oil, coal, kerosene, wood, etc.

46. Answer only if you pay rent for this house, apartment or mobile home - all others skip to 47. A. What is the monthly rent? B. Does the monthly rent include meals?

47. Answer questions 47A -53 if you or someone in this household owns or is buying this house or apartment, or mobile home, otherwise skip to questions for person 2. A. Do you have a mortgage, deed of trust, contract to purchase or similar debt on this property? B. How much is your regular monthly mortgage on this property? C. Does your regular monthly mortgage payment include payments for real estate taxes on THIS property? D. Does your regular monthly mortgage payment include payments for fire, hazard, or floor insurance on this property?

48. A. Do you have a second mortgage or home equity loan on this property? B. How much is your regular monthly payment on all second or junior mortgages and all home equity loans on this property?

49. What were the real estate taxes on this property last year?

50. What was the annual payment for fire, hazard, and flood insurance on this property?

51. What is the value of this property, that is how much do you think this house and lot, apartment, or mobile home, would sell for if it were sold?

52. Answer only if a condominuim. What is the monthly condo fee?

52. Answer only if a mobile home. A. Do you have an installment loan or contract on this mobile home?

B. What was the total cost for installment loans, payments, personal property taxes, site rent, registration fees, and license fees on this mobile home site last year?

Are there more people living here, continue on to PERSON 2.

THAT FOLKS, was the long form, section for the lst person!

any comments!

-- suzy (suzy@nowhere.com), March 15, 2000.

-- suzy (suzy@nowhere.com), March 15, 2000

Answers

Hell, they couldn't get it together well enough to address it properly, count the pages correctly and then want to make a guarantee that the information will be kept confidential. Why have all that information in the hands of one agency anyway? It's all available, but at least someone has to do a little digging. What does a condo fee have to do with distribution of funds for services and voting districts?

-- another government hack (keepwatching_2000@yahoo.com), March 15, 2000.

AGH

You know as well as I do that they know exactly what there doing.most people will blindly fill out the forms and send them in without nary a thought.

The percentage of the population that questions or refuses is probably minute.They will accomplish their goals and then some.

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), March 15, 2000.

Yeah, I wondered if they are going to cross check IRS records, or all of the other things that could be cross checked. It has your address on the front, so they know exactly where it came from. Dont buy this anonymous stuff!

-- suzy (suzy@nowhere.com), March 15, 2000.

It just rubs me the wrong way.

-- Mara (MaraWayne@aol.com), March 15, 2000.

I wonder if the Jewish population in Nazi Germany was asked similar questions prior to the holocaust? Just a thought.

-- David Whitelaw (dande53484@aol.com), March 16, 2000.

What's disturbing about having to fill out the long form (or the short form) is that the Census Bureau, for the first time, has outsourced the data capture of information from forms to an outside company. The Census Bureau in the past has had a virtually spotless record in keeping individual information private.

http://www.census.gov/dmd/www/dropin2.htm

[snip]

For the first time, the data capture process will use optical scanners that can read hand-printing to process the millions of questionnaires returned by mail or filled out by enumerators. Scanners, of course, have been used for decades to recognize the marks made on standardized I.Q. and college-admission tests. But the strokes making the marks were restricted to defined ovals or boxes and the markings themselves to No. 2 lead pencils.

By contrast, the optical scanners to be used in Census 2000 will recognize and decipher hand-written responses made by pens, as well as pencils. But the scanners are just one component of the system being developed by Lockheed-Martin Mission Systems. Lockheed is using commercially available sorters, scanners and processors -- rather than developing expensive new hardware and software -- in a system called Data Capture System 2000 (DCS 2000). Within this system, the scanners will take electronic photos, or images, of the census forms. Then, the "photos" will be processed by software capable of recognizing an infinite variety of hand strokes as either alphabetic or numeric characters. After the characters are translated into computer code, the responses will be transmitted electronically to the Census Bureau headquarters complex for statistical processing and analysis.

More than 100 million questionnaires will flow through the DCS 2000 systems at four data capture centers located around the country. Three of these centers, one in Baltimore County, Md., a second in Phoenix, Ariz., and the third in Pomona, Calif., are being established under a contract with TRW Inc. just for Census 2000. A fourth, in Jeffersonville, Ind., is a permanent installation called the National Processing Center, run directly by the Census Bureau to process its other censuses and surveys.

"Each center will employ between 1,500 and 2,000 people at the height of the census between March and July, 2000," according to Ann Gwynn of the Census Bureau's Data Capture Program. "TRW will be responsible for leasing, designing and building out space for the facilities, as well as hiring and training the workers who will operate DCS 2000."

As the forms come into the data capture centers, they will be checked in and the envelopes slit open for manual removal of the forms. The check-in process also captures information about which households have responded to the census. Those that do not will be contacted by a follow-up census-taker. Once the check-in function is completed, forms are fed into the digital scanners. The resulting images are sent to sophisticated computer processors where they are assessed for quality. Only then are the data "read" from the form. The goal is to minimize expensive manual keying operations and process the forms faster -- as much as 20 times faster.

As in the most recent censuses, two basic forms will be used, the so- called short- and long-form questionnaires. The short form, sent to roughly 83 percent of the estimated 118 million housing units in the country, asks for information on age, sex, race, Hispanic origin, household relationship and whether the housing unit is owned or rented. The long form seeks more detailed socio-economic information. The printing contract for the census questionnaires was scheduled to be awarded in November of 1998.

[snip]

-- Census info you may want (to@know.about), March 16, 2000.

http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/1999/fcw_6171999_census.asp

Census opens data capture center for 2000 census

BY DOUG BROWN

6/17/1999

The Census Bureau and several private-sector partners today held a grand opening ceremony for a data capture center in Maryland, which will be used to organize and store demographic information from an estimated 40 million questionnaires for the 2000 census.

Calling the groundbreaking "historic...a turning point in the history of the census," Census Director Kenneth Prewitt said that when future historians write about the census, "one of the chapters will certainly be [about the] data capture strategy."

The cavernous center is one of four facilities nationwide that the bureau will use to handle the estimated 120 million questionnaires that Americans fill out for the census.

The Lockheed Martin Corp. system, called Data Capture System 2000, integrates scanners and computers to quickly move information on the questionnaires from paper to servers to Census Bureau databases, where the census information will be stored indefinitely. The system marks the first time the bureau has used scanners to harvest census data.

Lockheed Martin system architects and engineers designed the system into 51 independent but linked clusters, each outfitted with scanners, servers and workstations. The network of clusters keeps track of each returned questionnaire from the moment the envelopes containing the questionnaires are opened until the paper questionnaires themselves are put into storage.

The bureau hired TRW Inc. to build and manage three of the centers and to renovate a permanent facility in Indiana to serve as a temporary data center. TRW contracted with Computer Sciences Corp. to hire, train and manage about 2,500 employees who will work in the Maryland center. The bureau also hired Lockheed Martin to design the software that will be used to parse and store the demographic data on the questionnaires.

The three-year, roughly $228 million contract marks the first time the bureau has outsourced a major census.

-- Census info you may want (to@know.about), March 16, 2000.

Finally, here's what the Census Bureau itself has to say about its privacy policy.

http://www.census.gov/dmd/www/dropin09.htm

What the Census Bureau Isn't Telling Anyone

As soon as you receive your Census 2000 questionnaire in the mail, a horrible thought might immediately cross your mind.

"Is the whole world going to be able to see my answers?"

You can put that fear to rest right now. Federal law (Title 13, United States Code) mandates that no one outside the Census Bureau can ever be given any information that would enable them to connect your answers with your name and address.

It also says that before anyone inside the Census Bureau sees your completed questionnaire, they must first be sworn to secrecy. And if they were to violate this oath? They would have the long arm of the law to contend with: a sizable fine (up to $5,000) and prison term (up to five years).

A recent amendment to Title 13 permits local and tribal government officials to review and provide updates to the Census Bureau's address list to ensure its accuracy for the purpose of conducting the census. (They, of course, still aren't allowed to see individual census records.) These officials are subject to the same confidentiality requirements as Census Bureau employees and face the same penalties for any violation.

You want to know how strict the Census Bureau is about adhering to this law? Not even the president of the United States is permitted to look at individual census records!

Not that presidents, over the years, haven't tried. Before major renovations that would temporarily close down the White House got under way roughly a half century ago, Secret Service agents visited the Census Bureau. Their mission was to try to find information about neighbors around the house where they were planning to move President Harry S. Truman until work was completed on the White House.

The agents explained to Ed Goldfield, program coordinator for the 1950 census, that obtaining this information was a matter of national security. But Goldfield denied their request, explaining that releasing information on individuals obtained from the census was against the law. Today, protecting the privacy of census respondents remains a critical part of every Census Bureau employee's training.

Of course, if the president isn't allowed to see your answers, neither is anyone else outside the Census Bureau. This means courts of law, credit companies, solicitors, the police and military, the Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, immigration and welfare agencies -- nobody! But what about the Freedom of Information Act? Well, it might give individuals access to lots of information, but not to individual census answers.

The Census Bureau's dedication to confidentiality plays an important role in everything it does. Before they begin working for the Census Bureau, all employees must pass a security and employment reference check, swear they are not employed as tax collectors or assessors or law enforcement officials and establish they have no felony convictions as adults. On top of all this, the agency employs a host of safeguards, such as electronic barriers and secure telephone lines, to block outside access to any confidential information in Census Bureau computers.

After you return your form, it will be sent to one of the Census Bureau's four processing centers, where workers will scan it directly into computers that can read responses. Within 10 to 15 days, it will be shredded. Your answers will be combined with those of other people to produce statistical summaries.

Millions of questionnaires were processed during the 1990s without a breach of trust. The agency has processed hundreds of millions of questionnaires -- from those filled out by movie stars to those completed by your neighbors -- without any breach of trust.

There are three certainties in life -- death, taxes and the continuation of the Census Bureau's proud tradition of keeping information it collects about individuals strictly private.

-- Census info you may want (to@know.about), March 16, 2000.

Sounds to me like they're trying to get a handle on how many illegals are living in the U.S. Of course most will not fill this thing out.

-- gilda (jess@listbot.com), March 16, 2000.

For anyone wanting to research the Census Bureau giving your information to someone outside the Census Bureau (TRW), try this search on 'census', 'TRW', and 'privacy'.

http://www.google.com/search?q=census+trw+privacy&num=100&sa=Google+Se arch

Link

-- (Internet@research.er), March 16, 2000.

In case there is anyone not familiar with TRW, they are a national credit reporting agency. They already know everything about you.

And can someone please tell me why they want to know what time I leave for work in the morning?

Only a fool will fill out this long form and dutifully mail it in. I expect they will receive millions of them.

-- semper paratus (here_with@my.pals), March 16, 2000.