October 26, 2009 Monday
Lowell Sun (Massachusetts)
BYLINE: The Lowell Sun
According to the 2000 U.S. Census: 17,371 Asian-Americans lived in Lowell. The 2010 Census should provide a more accurate window into numbers.
Vong Ros, executive director of the Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association of Greater Lowell: "25,000-30,000."
Vesna Nuon, member of Lowell's Zoning Board of Appeals, three-time candidate for School Committee: "It fluctuates between 25,000 and 35,000."
Local historian Mehmed Ali: "Ah, the question everyone asks. Between 25,000-30,000."
Lowell Mayor Edward "Bud" Caulfield: "I'd say about 18,000, but that is for all Southeast Asians, including Vietnamese and Laotians."
Dorcas Grigg-Saito, CEO of Lowell Community Health Center: Approximately 20,000.
How many Cambodians live in Long Beach, Calif.?
Greg Mellen, reporter for The Long Beach Press Telegram who has covered Long Beach's Cambodian population for five years: "There's always been a big debate about that. With the 2010 Census, we hope we can get a good number. But the one that's thrown around most often is 50,000."
Number of students identified as Cambodian at Lowell High School this fall, according to Headmaster William Samaras: 1,024 (or about 30 percent) of the school's 3,458 students.
Number of students identified as Cambodian at The Hellenic American Academy in Lowell, grades pre-K through six: Six of the school's 125 students, or about one in 20.
According to the 2000 Census
Lowell's 17,371 Asian-Americans represented a 51.4 percent increase from 1990's 11,470. By 2000, Asian-Americans made up 17.2 percent of the city's population. Ten years earlier, it comprised 11 percent.
Lowell's 9,850 Cambodians were 56.7 percent of Lowell's Asian-American population. Indians were 14 percent, Vietnamese 9.2 percent and Laotians, 8.9 percent.
More than 44 percent of Lowell's Cambodians were under 18.
Seventy percent of Asian Americans over 65 were not proficient in English. The rate dropped to 30 percent for the 18 to 64 age group.
One-third of Cambodian households had incomes of less than $25,000, and the median Cambodian household income was $39,929. Nearly one-fourth of Cambodian families lived in poverty, which in 1999, was $16,895 for a family with two children under 18.
The NRFU phase, which stands for “Non-Response Follow-Up,” is the last in the Census process and represents the final push to collect Census information. The NRFU campaign encourages households who have not returned their Census form to welcome and cooperate with the Census taker that may knock on their door. Messaging for the NRFU campaign assures all that Census takers are sworn to secrecy and that they are there to help.
The NRFU phase, which stands for “Non-Response Follow-Up,” is the last in the Census process and represents the final push to collect Census information. The NRFU campaign encourages households who have not returned their Census form to welcome and cooperate with the Census taker that may knock on their door. Messaging for the NRFU campaign assures all that Census takers are sworn to secrecy and that they are there to help.
The NRFU phase, which stands for “Non-Response Follow-Up,” is the last in the Census process and represents the final push to collect Census information. The NRFU campaign encourages households who have not returned their Census form to welcome and cooperate with the Census taker that may knock on their door. Messaging for the NRFU campaign assures all that Census takers are sworn to secrecy and that they are there to help.
The NRFU phase, which stands for “Non-Response Follow-Up,” is the last in the Census process and represents the final push to collect Census information. The NRFU campaign encourages households who have not returned their Census form to welcome and cooperate with the Census taker that may knock on their door. Messaging for the NRFU campaign assures all that Census takers are sworn to secrecy and that they are there to help.
The NRFU phase, which stands for “Non-Response Follow-Up,” is the last in the Census process and represents the final push to collect Census information. The NRFU campaign encourages households who have not returned their Census form to welcome and cooperate with the Census taker that may knock on their door. Messaging for the NRFU campaign assures all that Census takers are sworn to secrecy and that they are there to help.
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