SPRING 2000
Tuesdays 5:00 -7:50 PM
Family Food Sciences 210

• General Course Description.

  INTD 192S (also listed as S SCI 192S) is a new interdisciplinary course offered for the first time during Spring 2000. INTD 192S counts towards the new upper division GE Integration requirement in area D and also satisfies the new community service designation (S) approved by the university.

  The subject of INTD 192S is the U. S. Census, particularly the 2000 Census that will start in April, right about the middle of the Spring semester. In the first eight weeks the course we will cover the historical, social, economic and political implications of the Census, as well as issues related to the organization and implementation of a public awareness campaign (i.e. public relations, media, grass root organizing, CBO's, telephone banks, etc.) One of the unique features of INTD 192S is its substantial community service component. All students in the course will be expected to take leadership roles in organizing and implementing a community wide effort to achieve an accurate census for Fresno County.
  
  

• Why this course?

  As a subject of academic study, the Census is grossly neglected --probably because it is a once in a decade event. This neglect belies the fundamental role that the Census plays in our nation's life-from governmental policy (federal, state and local) to strategic planning in business, millions of decisions that significantly impact people's lives are made based on census data. Although invisible, the Census is as much a part of the nation's infrastructure as highways and telephone lines.

  The most critical piece of information collected by the Census is the decennial "head count", which gives the population count for local comunities, towns, cities, counties, states, and the nation as a whole. The primary uses of the population data are: (a) to apportion the 435 seats in the House of Representatives among the states, (b) to draw congressional, state and local voting districts, and (c) to allocate federal funds (approximately 180 billion dollars a year) that are formula (i.e. population) driven to state and local agencies.

  In spite of the obvious political and economic impact of the Census population data, the data itself is far from accurate. Simply put, the Census faces one fundamental obstacle in obtaining accurate counts: the unwillingness of people to be counted. For the 1990 Census, the estimated "undercount" for the entire nation was 1.6%, for the state of California the estimated undercount was 2.7%, and for Fresno County, the undercount was 3.4%. This means that there are about 25,000 people in Fresno County that the 1990 Census missed, and this undercount translated into a loss to the community of tens of millions of dollars in federal funds.

  One of the main roles of a university is to fight ignorance. In the case of the Census, ignorance is the primary enemy to an accurate head count. By learning about the Census and the role it plays in our lives, you will be able to significantly contribute towards rooting out this ignorance, both present and future. The second half of the story is your contribution to the betterment of the community. By offering your services, skills and knowledge towards implementing a complete count, you will tangibly and materially contribute to your community.

Week 1

• Introduction to the course.
• General introduction to the Census.
• History of the U.S. Census.
• Guest speaker: TBA

Week 2

• Economic implications of the Census.
• Guest speaker: TBA

Week 3

• Political implications of the Census.
• Redistricting and its implications.
• The apportionment of the US House of Representatives.
• Guest speaker: Tom Bohigian (local representative for Sen. Barbara Boxer)

Week 4

• The undercount and its implications.
• Local Complete Count efforts.
• Community Based Organizations (CBO's)
• Guest Speaker: TBA

Week 5-8: Complete count implementation strategies.

• Management Issues
• Strategic planning
• Targeting Specific Audiences
• Outreach (phone banks, press conferences, etc.)
• Advertising Themes and Modalities
• Creating Public Service Announcements
• Creating Press Releases and TV Spots
• Guest speaker: TBA

Week 7-15

• Community service. Fieldwork

Week 14-16

• Reflection and dicussion.
• Class presentations.

Textbooks and Selection Readings:

• Anderson, M. J., The American Census: A Social History. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1990.
  
• Anderson, M.J. and S. E. Fienberg, Who Counts: The Politics of Census-taking in Contemporatry America. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1999.
  
• Choldin, L. M., Looking for the Last Percent: The Controversy over Census Undercounts. New Brunswick, N. J.: Rutgers University Press, 1994.
  
• Mutz, D. C., P. M. Sniderman (eds.) Political Persuasion and Attitude Change. Ann Arbor, MI.: University of Michigan Press, 1996.
  
• Steffey, D. L., and N. M. Bradburn (eds.), Counting People in the Information Age. Washington D.C.: National Academy Press, 1994.