Columnist Susan Snyder: Hard to find consensus on census form

Tuesday, April 4, 2000 | 10:07 a.m.

Susan Snyder's column appears Tuesdays and Sundays. Reach her at snyder@lasvegassun.com or 259-4082.

Looks like about half of Nevada's residents have returned their census forms.

Now comes the hard part. As home of the anti-federal government Sagebrush Rebellion, there are plenty of Nevadans who likely won't have anything to do with the census form.

And the long form seems to be the one that rankles. It asks all kinds of questions about the houses people live in, how often they work, how they get to work and how much money they earn.

Gordon Williams, a construction worker who has been laid off for about six months, says he found the long form in his mailbox a couple of weeks ago. He hasn't filled it out yet.

"I got the one where they want to know all your business," Williams said as he carefully stuck two kernels of corn on his fishing hook before plopping it into the pond at Lorenzi Park.

"They're asking too much. Next thing you know they're going to ask me what color my underwear is and if I wear boxers," he said. "I'm only going to tell them what I want them to know."

Linde Gold, who says she works with one of the Las Vegas Strip shows, says she'll be glad to fill out the census form -- if she ever gets one.

Gold received a postcard urging her to send back her census form, but she hasn't received a form to fill out.

"I called them, and they're going to send it," she said. "I'm going to fill it out because it's for the children. They need all the help they can get."

Gold moved to the United States from her native Austria in 1963. She figures it's her civic duty to answer the questions.

"It's only right to count how many people there are in the country," Gold said. "I think it's for the overall good for all people."

Williams' fishing buddy had his doubts about the count's success. When he moved here in 1966 the population was manageable, he said. But now there are too many people, and they're moving around too much.

Almost every day another subdivision opens up, and a lot of those places aren't even on the map yet, he said. A fair number of people aren't on the map, either.

"All these homeless people and (illegal aliens). You tell me how you can count them. You can't even find them," he said. "It's going to be hard to take a census in this state and in Clark County."

That's probably true. So why make it harder by not bothering to fill out whatever form comes in the mail?

Gold is right. Census information helps children. It also helps us know how many of them are being raised by grandparents.

It tells us how many people, homebound by age or disability, live in isolation because they don't have telephones.

It tells us how many people live in homes without kitchens or bathrooms. In a state where people throw away millions of dollars in casinos we have families who still don't have indoor plumbing.

It even tells us how many people have been laid off and can't find work in an economy that's supposedly booming. It shows us who is invisible.

"It's too personal," Williams said, examining the fishing line that helps him pass the time. "I might not do it."