[ti:College Towns Worry Students Will Not Be Counted in US Census] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:01.48]The coronavirus health crisis has had an unexpected effect on an event [00:07.56]that happens once every 10 years in the United States: the U.S. census. [00:16.00]For example, Betsy Landin was listed by her parents on the 2020 census [00:23.80]as living at her family's home in Phoenix, Arizona. [00:29.28]But experts say she should have been counted [00:33.00]in the city of Tempe where she goes to school. [00:37.44]"We really didn't have any instruction or guidance at school [00:42.16]about how to fill out the census," Landin said. [00:48.16]The same thing happened to Betzabel Ayala. [00:52.76]She was counted in Phoenix because she was living at home [00:57.64]after the coronavirus shutdown of colleges around the country. [01:05.20]The question of where to count off-campus college students [01:10.08]in any census can be difficult. [01:13.12]Parents often think their college-age children should be counted with them. [01:20.88]Hundreds of thousands of U.S. college students [01:24.84]are being counted for the 2020 census at their parents' homes or other places. [01:34.32]These students normally live in non-university housing [01:39.32]and are supposed to be counted where they go to school. [01:45.08]Ames, Iowa is home to Iowa State University. [01:50.12]The city has a population of 67,000 people. [01:56.24]Officials are worried that if the 2020 census misses [02:01.44]the more than 15,000 students who live off-campus, [02:07.24]it could put the city's population count below 50,000. [02:14.76]Some people say the coming undercount [02:18.08]could harm college towns across the country. [02:22.56]In some places with major universities, [02:26.44]students make up as much as three-fourths of the population. [02:33.76]Most people received information from the 2020 census in March. [02:40.88]That is also when restrictions in much of the U.S. [02:45.32]went into effect to stop the spread of the coronavirus. [02:52.20]Many schools switched to online classes, causing many students to leave. [03:00.68]The Census Bureau says college students should be counted [03:05.80]where they would have been on April 1 if not for the health crisis. [03:13.56]The Census Bureau sought the help of college administrators [03:18.08]in getting lists of students who do not live on campus or have left town. [03:27.20]But many universities did not want to take part because of privacy concerns. [03:34.96]In addition, off-campus students at many schools [03:39.84]are not required to provide information about where they live. [03:46.84]A lot of what is provided by the schools [03:50.04]is also missing important information, such as birthdates. [03:55.96]That is from a report last month by the office inspecting the U.S. Census Bureau. [04:05.80]The undercount problem, however, [04:08.32]involves only students living off campus in non-university housing. [04:15.60]The Census Bureau uses records supplied by colleges [04:20.48]to count students living in dormitories or university apartments. [04:28.52]But, off-campus students make up about 4 million of the 19 million college students in the U.S. [04:38.56]That number comes from Dudley Poston, a demographer at Texas A&M University. [04:48.28]State College, Pennsylvania is home to Penn State University. [04:54.40]Twenty-five percent of students living in one neighborhood there [04:59.32]answered the 2020 census either online, by mail or by phone. [05:07.48]Douglas Shontz, a city spokesman, said the current percentage [05:12.96]is much lower than the 60 percent who answered the 2010 census. [05:20.84]With less than a month left until the census ends, [05:25.48]the city has placed signs all over downtown State College. [05:31.12]The city also spent $5,000 mailing out postcard reminders [05:38.20]about the census to students who returned for the fall semester [05:43.96]to off-campus apartments or fraternity and sorority houses. [05:51.16]"We are kind of begging at this point for students to do the right thing," Shontz said. [05:59.28]Steve Patterson is the mayor of Athens, Ohio. [06:04.64]He said if Ohio University's graduating class of 3,500 students was not counted last spring, [06:14.72]the city could lose $49 million in federal funding over 10 years. [06:23.92]Across the country, students' answers to census questionnaires [06:29.28]will affect how $1.5 trillion in federal money is spent [06:36.12]and how many congressional seats each state gets. [06:42.92]I'm Mario Ritter, Jr. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM