Number of Hispanics especially important

Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Committee set up to make sure census-takers count every head
Number of Hispanics especially important, officials say


By Bertrand M. Gutierrez
JOURNAL REPORTER
http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satel ... 5&path=&s=


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The 2010 Census is more than two years away, but Winston-Salem and Forsyth County are preparing now to make sure that census-takers count everyone, including Hispanics.
More than ever, Hispanics could affect how much money cities and counties get from the federal government. Hispanics made up more than half of the county’s population increase between 2000 and 2005, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The number of Hispanics in Forsyth County increased from 19,577 to 30,863 between 2000 and 2005, according to the Census Bureau. The increase has been large, but it also has been hard to track. A UNC Chapel Hill study released last year estimated that nearly 37,000 Hispanics lived in the county in 2004.
Because they are considered hard to track, Hispanics are seen as a wildcard in the federal government’s effort to count heads.
Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines said that he and Gloria Whisenhunt, the chairwoman of Forsyth’s board of commissioners, are planning to form a “complete-countâ€

Obviously this guy doesn't know his stuff:

“If you think about it: Mary and Joseph, they were on the run because of a census,â€