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Don't hide during Census 2000 head count  It’s a big country. Big enough to make you think you don’t count.   But this is the year 2000, and it’s the time for the government to make sure you do count in its United States Census 2000.   The United States Constitution mandates a census every 10 years to determine how many seats each state will have in the U.S. House of Representatives. But community leaders use it for everything from planning schools and building roads to providing recreational opportunities and managing health care services.   So, be counted.    Since 1998, the Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census has been developing the address list for Census 2000 and recruiting workers for census jobs. Beginning in mid-March, census questionaires will be delivered.   To get an idea of how big the job is, take a look at the bureau’s estimate of the task ahead: 275 million U.S. residents 118 million housing units in the U.S. alone 1.5 million housing units in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Island areas 2.7 million applicants recruited 285,000 jobs at peak 500 Local Census Offices, 12 Regional Census Centers and four Data Processing Centers 500 local area networks, 6,000 personal computers and 1,500 printers (set up, used and dismantled in one year) 8 million maps needed for field work 79 million questionnaires returned within a two-week period 8 to 9 million blocks covered Don’t get your focus off the dreaded April 15 tax deadline, but do keep in mind April 1 is Census Day. From March through May, Census takers will visit housing units in rural and remote areas to drop off and/or pick up forms. From April through June, census takers will visit housing units that did not return census forms. By October and November, the bureau expects all field work to be completed, and apportionment counts will be delivered to the president by Dec. 31. By April 1, 2001, redistricting counts will be delivered to all the states.   It’s your chance to be counted.