Forms, Etc

[COBLENTZ@DT3.DT.UH.EDU]

I learned something very important from our Reading Lab Director, who said
of a form I gave her that I wanted all users of the ASC to fill out, "We're
not too thrilled about forms."

It struck the very depths of my being.  Hey, I have designed form after form
after form to fulfill our purposes.  None of them suffice.  The problem
is that they fulfill *our* purposes, not those of those who come to us.  

So I think the simpler the form, the better.  The more the form lets whoever
is using it say what needs to be said, the better the form.

Think, for example, of those ubiquitous forms we all fill out in the doctor's
office.  Does one of them meet our needs?  ("I've got this throbbing red
thing on my cheek!  AM I dying of skin cancer? What the hell is going on? And
by the way, don't worry.  You'll get paid, fella.") 


Shouldn't we offer writers a chance to express what's on their minds rather
than forcing them to cope with our jargon and *insurance imformation*?

I think tutors, not writers, should fill out the forms that supply the
information we need.  Tutors can elicit the information from writers and
convert it to our language.  

All this from a person who has tried endlessly to create perfect forms.  I'm
a really good form maker!  It's not my proudest moment to admit to creating
more red tape for the innocents who face the bureaucracy of writing centers.

Sincerely and with deep-felt warm wishes for success in creating the perfect 
form,

The Faceless Bureaucrat, 
Linda Coblentz
UH-Downtown
coblentz@dt.uh.edu