All indications are that the 2010 Census is about to commence. On Monday, the U.S. Census Bureau began mailing advance letters, signed by Census Bureau director, Robert M. Groves, to about 120 million addresses nationwide, notifying households that 2010 Census forms will be arriving at their residents between March 15 and 17. The letters urge households to complete the 10-question census form when it arrives and return it in the accompanying prepaid envelope as soon as possible. 

“The advance letter helps people know that their 2010 Census form will be arriving soon,” said Groves. “It’s an important reminder about the impact the census has on our communities, that the census is important and that everyone needs to participate.” 

It is extremely important that residents of South Florida, irrespective of their residential status, be counted in the 2010 Census. This project which is undertaken by the U.S. Census Bureau every 10 years, is important not just to have an up-to-date count of how many people live in the U.S., but more importantly to ascertain the number of residents living in specific communities and political districts. As city, county and state representatives have been telling their constituents over the past few months, an accurate indication of how may people reside in certain political districts, is indicative of the financial support that districts receive from the federal government for facilities like housing, highways, schools and health facilities. Undercounting a community means less government financial support for that community. 

For the Caribbean-American population, the 2010 Census is of particular importance. Leaders of the nationwide Caribbean Community have been waging a campaign led by CaribID 2010, a New York organization, to ensure that Caribbean nationals are identified as Caribbean in this year’s Census. Although the census form has no category to indicate that one is of Caribbean descent, Caribbean nationals can write in the word ‘Caribbean,’ when asked to indicate their ethnicity. This is not for Caribbean nationals to differentiate themselves, from African Americans, but for there to be an accurate count of Caribbean nationals, for economic, social and political reasons. 

In past Census projects there was a tendency for residents to discard the advance census forms, requiring census takers to make follow-up visits, which some residents find inconvenient. It is therefore important that when the census forms arrive, they are completed and returned in the time frame stated by the Census Bureau. 

Census Bureau research shows that sending an advance letter, and reminder postcard if necessary, boosts census mail-back rates and save money. For every 1 percent increase in households that respond by mail, taxpayers save about $85 million in operational costs associated with census takers following up with households that did not mail back the form. 

The more than 120 million households that receive both the advance letter and 2010 Census form by mail represent about 90 percent of all residential addresses in the country. Census workers recently started hand-delivering census forms to another 9 percent of addresses in areas where many households lack traditional postal addresses. 

Less than 1 percent of households are in areas where it’s more efficient for census takers to conduct census interviews rather than drop-off and require mail-back of the form.

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OBAMA GIVES CONGRESS GREEN LIGHT FOR 'RECONCILIATION'

Fed up with the unmoving Republicans in Congress, President Barack Obama on Wednesday outlined his final version of the healthcare bill and gave Congress the green light to move forward with healthcare reform.

The bill – a compromise plan incorporating Democratic and Republican ideas – is estimated to cost a trillion dollars. Urging Congress to approve the plan within weeks, he said it should finish its work and end the yearlong debate.

“Everything there is to say about healthcare has been said, and just about everybody has said it,” Obama said. “Now is the time to make a decision about how to finally reform healthcare so that it works, not just for the insurance companies, but for America's families and America's businesses.”

The president supports reconciliation, a legislative measure would allow the healthcare bill to be passed by the Senate with only the minimum required 51 votes. He said the bill “deserves the same kind of up-or-down vote” that was used to pass President George W. Bush’s tax cuts.

The president said the American people want to know if it’s still possible for Washington to look out for their interests and their future. “They are waiting for us to act,” he said.

Cognizant of the political fight Republicans will most likely wage if healthcare reform passes through reconciliation, the president said, he doesn’t “know how this plays politically,” but knows that “it’s right.”

Obama’s version of the bill gives Americans more control over their health insurance and their healthcare by holding insurance companies more accountable, offers more insurance from employers, and allows those with insurance to keep it and keep their doctor. The plan would stop insurance companies from denying coverage because of a pre-existing condition, drop coverage because people get sick, and force them to pay unlimited amounts of money out of their pocket or arbitrarily and massively raise premiums. It would give uninsured individuals and small business owners the same kind of private health insurance that members of Congress have.

The president’s version also provides subsidy for those who can’t afford insurance, through tax credits that Obama said “add up to the largest middle-class tax cut for healthcare in history.” It also would expand Medicare prescription drug coverage, give the federal government new authority to block excessive rate increases by health insurance companies and increase the threshold when the tax on high-end health insurance (Cadillac) plans would kick in.

Significantly, it does not include the government-run public option that the president and liberal Democrats once supported, but which was opposed by Republicans and key moderate Democrats.

The White House claims the president’s version of the bill would cut the federal deficit by $100 billion over the next 10 years, while the measure would cost $950 billion over that period.

Attempting to woo Republican support following last week’s bi-partisan healthcare summit, the president issued a letter to Congress on Tuesday in which he offered to include Republican ideas in the compromise health plan. These ideas included: committing $50 million to fund state initiatives to reduce medical malpractice costs; supporting investigations of healthcare providers receiving Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal programs; Medicaid reimbursement increases to doctors in certain states, and the offering of high-deductible health plans in the proposed health exchange.

Despite these concessions, Republican leaders say they are unsatisfied. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, said “The American people are not for this,” and predicted that “every election in America this fall will be a referendum on this issue.”

But Obama is determined to sign healthcare into law, telling Congress, “Let’s get this done!”

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About 56,000 census workers began hand delivering 2010 Census questionnaires to roughly 12 million addresses across the nation, mostly in rural areas where people do not receive mail at the same location as their residence. Most of the nation's 120 million households, about 90 percent of the U.S. population, should look for their 10-question forms to arrive by mail mid-March.

While the majority of areas covered by this operation are rural, the Census Bureau also is delivering forms to Gulf Coast areas affected by Hurricane Katrina to ensure everyone is included in the once-a-decade count. Census takers will deliver 2010 Census questionnaires directly to each residence in these areas, leaving a form packaged in a plastic bag at the home's main door. Residents are encouraged to fill out and mail back their census forms ― using the enclosed pre-paid envelope ― as soon as possible.

“Regardless of whether your census form gets dropped off at your front door or you receive it within a few weeks in your mailbox, it's important that you fill it out and mail it back as soon as possible,” said Census Bureau Director Robert M. Groves. “With only 10 questions, the 2010 Census should only take about 10 minutes to complete.”

In 2000, about 72 percent of the population mailed back their census forms ― halting a three-decade decline in the national mail participation rate. Mailing back the forms save taxpayers money, as it reduces the number of census takers that must go door-to-door to follow up with households that failed to do so. The Census Bureau saves about $85 million in operational costs for every percentage point increase in the national mail response rate.

“It costs us just 42 cents in a postage paid envelope when households mail back their 2010 Census forms,” Groves said. “The Census Bureau will spend about $25 per person if we have to go out and knock on the doors of households that don't mail them back.”

The Census Bureau is urging everyone to take 10 minutes to fill out their census forms and mail them back. Starting March 22, visitors to the 2010 Census Web site will be able to track how well their communities are participating in the census on a daily basis. Communities will even be able to embed a Web-based tool on their own Web sites that automatically updates the daily rates. An interactive Google-based map is now online that allows visitors to find out how well their communities did in the 2000 Census. The Census Bureau is challenging all communities to improve their 2000 mail participation rates in 2010.

All census responses are confidential. Answers are protected by law and cannot be shared with anyone. The Census Bureau takes extreme measures to protect the identity of individuals and businesses. By law, the Census Bureau cannot share respondents' individually identifiable answers with anyone, including tribal housing authorities, other federal agencies and law enforcement entities.

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Jamaican teen Marvadene ‘Bubbles’ Anderson, standing at a whopping 6’ 10” – taller than basketball stars Michael Jordan, 6’ 6” and LeBron James, 6’ 8” – holds the title as the tallest teen girl in the world.

But the 16-year-old, who currently plays for New Jersey’s Rutgers Argonauts basketball team, is not only known for her height, she is also known for her game.

Anderson, who hails from Prospect, Clarendon and attended Edwin Allen High School, appeared on Oprah on Monday. She told the queen of talk that she began noticing how different she was, when at age 12 or 13 she was towering over almost everyone, measuring a phenomenal 6’ 4”.

She said, “At that age, I was feeling left out. Then, I found out that I can do stuff with my height.”

It is no secret that extreme height is not perceived as the most attractive physical feature in Jamaica. In fact, many relatively tall Jamaicans tend to slouch, as they try to manipulate their height to look more ‘normal’ and fit in. Marvadene was no exception. She said, “I felt bad. You can use your height here for other things, but in Jamaica it’s not that attractive.”

However, determined to use her height to her advantage, she began playing netball for the young Sunshine Girls in Jamaica, at which she excelled.

Anderson moved to the U.S. last July and took up a similar sport, basketball. Her height and skill inspired Mary Klinger, Rutgers Prep School girl's basketball team coach, to offer her a position on the spot. She is currently the starting center for the team.

Anderson has goals of becoming a pediatrician and playing pro ball in the WNBA – one of these goals is already in the making. In fact, coach Klinger believes the teen, who has been playing for only four months, has great potential and can realize them if she continues on her current path.

But there is not only potential for growth in her desired fields, she is just 16 and still growing, so doctors suggest she might reach at least 7’ 1” – where basketball star Shaquille O’Neal now stands.

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