Census aims to (finally) move into the future

We are know treatment the Census aims to (finally) move into the future

Terry Stamm doesn't mind filling out a Census form every 10 years, but he does take issue with a couple of things.
One, the quaint methods the government still uses (snail mail, pen and paper, door-to-door visits). Two, the skyrocketing cost ($14.7 billion for the 2010 Census).

"There's got to be a better way," says Stamm, 54, a small business owner in Overland Park, Kan. "We just need to find a more efficient way to do it. Spending billions of dollars is ridiculous."

The sentiment is shared by many.

As hundreds of thousands of workers knock on doors this summer to collect information for the 2010 Census, momentum is mounting to drag future Censuses into the 21st century.

This year's Census may be the last to be filled out completely by hand and conducted primarily through mailings and home visits.

Almost certain for 2020: many people logging onto a secured Census website and filling out the form with a few keystrokes instead of pen, paper and a pre-addressed envelope.

"Using the Postal Service was an enormous innovation in 1970" when Census forms were first mailed (previous Censuses were door-to-door surveys), says Margo Anderson, a professor of history and urban studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and an expert on Census history. "We're 40 years later, and the mail isn't the official way most people get their information or communicate. It's really outmoded."

Census Bureau Director Robert Groves agrees.

"We need to be serious about saving money," says Groves, who oversees a Census that will cost almost $50 a person when it's done — 66% more than the 2000 Census "The easiest way to do that is reduce the number of people involved in the collection of data."

The cost of the Census has mushroomed for several reasons.

FULL COVERAGE: Keeping tabs on the nationwide count

Coppied by 2010 USA TODAY