I've had a lot of responses from my post about the 2000 Census and because it went out to multiple lists, replies went to me or the particular list it was read on and so, I'm sending out a summary of what has been generated. I wonder how many read this on multiple lists (i.e. how many people belong to the same lists I do??) First off, the range of responses went from very positive ("that was a great idea" - open thinkers? :-) to those of caution and doubt ("I don't know if they'll let you do that" - conformists, closed minded? :-) One said that I could get in serious trouble tampering with a legal document - puleeeze! That was so laughable, but hey, Janet Reno can come get me anytime (zeig hiel)! That’s my information! And the instructions only say to fill it out as completely as possible (Title 13), which I did. Question 10 clearly asks about heritage (I'm using pages 39 & 40 to more fully answer). It doesn’t say what you can’t do. I see both functions of the census with equal enthusiasim. The first function is accounting. Most people are concerned about this part, but I agree with it asking personal questions for the benefit of everybody, but do you really think the Government doesn't have or couldn't get that info by other means? – someone mentioned credit info. If the Government wanted to, they could do whatever they wanted (do I hear another zeig heil {in the same manner one would say amen}) This is just another fear like "big brother" or how the credit card and computer are tools of the devil and how we’re going to lose our privatcy. If the information is misused, then yes, we have a lot to fear about, and this administration gives credence to that, but then you can do something about that at the polls! Maybe the public will learn what is meant by the saying "there's a sucker born every minute" after the assualt on the Constitution, Easter weekend! It's all about leadership, which this nation is lacking. The most leadership I've seen since Desert Storm was Gov. Gary Johnson when he could be seen actively doing things during the Cerro Grande Fire (Los Alamos, NM) from helping to fight the fire to comforting the victims. This current President plays the public like Suckers! If you think that this Elian Gonzales thing is just reuniting a father with his son, then you had better wake up! The problem with this census is that they're going to find out that they need more things than they can allocate for. It's a noble purpose to know where they need a school, but it will be a bust because we can't build all the schools we need. The fear I do have is that because of this fact, they're going to have to make decisions on what schools they can build and I think they'll more than likely build in a well-to-do white community where their kids have no respect or know what sacrifice is, rather than build it in a less affluent community like Cuban Miami, where they know the meaning of freedom! Sorry for having one foot on the soapbox, but current affairs, politics and this census are intertwinded by nature. If there is a maillist for this census, then let us know, I haven’t seen one. If there is one, we need to move this thread there. After the accounting function is complete, there’s the genealogical function to consider. I had some responses from past enumerators and current ones, but none of them knew the answer to if the Bureau was going to microfilm this census or not. If not then my efforts are for not, or are they? Two new lines became evident while putting this info together, I now have a more concise two page list (outline) representing how I came to be. That’s, in itself valuable. I doubt that calling the Bureau will be profitable, because the answer will be the typical "no you can't do that" or "I don't know", whether you can or not. It is for these reasons you should do it anyway, because you never know. Someone also said that they would doubt that Kinkos would copy it onto the form. When I took to Kinko’s, they had no problem doing it (11x17). I just pointed out not to cover the bar codes. It cost $5.42 (client stock). That’s a $5 investment in the next 72 years for a time capsule or “Rosetta Stone”. It’s in the mail now. Where I work, we share our office space with the micrographics department. They have two camera machines with paper feeders that you find on a printer, fax or xerox. All they do is prep forms like legal documents to receipts on 81/2 x 11 sheets, load up the paper feeders and run them through the machines to be microfilmed. The paper forms are then packed into boxes and then stored. They'll stay in storage until their retention period is up and that's usuaully several years. The microfilm is kept indefinitely. The Government at all levels is retention happy and I can't see the Bureau, not microfilming the census. They spent a lot of money printing them out. When you take the staples out of the census form, you can see how each sheet can run through a scanner. I wasn’t as lucky, I had to manually scan all forty pages :-) The Government must realize the importance of microfilming the census for future generations?? This will be the last census to go from paper to microfilm anyway! The 2010 census will be done electronically. The Government should add a page or two into the census for “messages” to the future (sort of like an electronic time capsule). It can be anything you wish. It can be as profane or as profound as you want. Not everybody are genealogists :-) What gets me is that you hear reports from the Government on how people haven’t been returning the census. For one, there is no deadline on the form, therefore, as long as they come in, even by the end of the year, should be fine. Secondly, these reports started coming out prior to April 1st! Why?! The form states that this is to count all those persons living at that residence on April 1st. Most people probably didn’t look it over until after April 1st. You don’t know who’s living there until *after* the target date. Again, if there’s no maillist for this census, maybe someone should create one, if just to be able to pass on info?! If you’re interested in what I copied onto the form, goto http://www.nmia.com/~cwayne/genealogy/MyLine.doc (word97) for my outline. chris