SHOULD 2000 CENSUS COUNT VAMPIRES?

SHOULD 2000 CENSUS COUNT VAMPIRES?

LAKE GROVE, New York (Wireless Flash) -- Count Dracula will be happy to stand up and be counted for the year 2000 Census if a vampire researcher has his way. Joel Martin, who heads the Vampire Research Center in Lake Grove, New York, is asking the U.S. Census Bureau to consider including a vampire category in next year's census. Martin's own records suggest there are about 500 card- carrying vampires in the United States, mostly in New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Miami Beach. However, he claims some vampires living in rural areas are falling through the cracks because they don't want to reveal their love for blood. Martin says the vampire population is on the rise and now is the time for the Census Bureau to keep track of the bloodsuckers. If the government refuses to take a "stake" in the matter, Martin says he will organize his own vampire census sometime next year.