2008 Woodie Awards
Friendship tests and Amish Limewire
This Macalester sophomore used a unique method of distinguishing between his true friends and his more superficial ones.
By: Katie Harger
Issue date: 4/21/06 Section: Features
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When Facebook begins to claim that you have hundreds of friends, it may be time to re-gauge the depth of your interpersonal relationships. Phong Tran '08 chose to take matters into his own hands—or rather, into the hands of Macalester's Student Post Office, by sending out one-page questionnaires to approximately 160 to 180 of his closest associates, demanding to know what exactly he means to them. Although he's chosen to keep the results of the survey private, he willingly divulged his motivation to begin such a project. And should Mac Weekly readers want to examine the profundity of their relationship with Tran, the survey can be cut out and returned to him at his SPO address.
Mac Weekly: What prompted you to send out this survey?
Phong Tran: Like other projects I've done, it's an odd medley of ideas, thoughts, and concepts that I mull over during those random times of the day. Like that hour in between going to bed and before you actually fall asleep, or those 10 minutes between classes. Oh, and the 30 seconds from the time a professor asks the class a question to the moment he or she realizes no one is going to answer… fantastic.
Do you think everyone should send out surveys to people they know? If not, why just you?
Oh, God no. Some people actually expect this kind of ridiculous shit from me, and I was still hesitant about sending this one out. I was actually planning a different project, but had an “oh, what the hell” moment and printed these out.
What was the other project?
I think I'm going to save it for next year. So I've got nothing to say at the moment.
What if someone responded (truthfully) that they didn't like you?
Mac Weekly: What prompted you to send out this survey?
Phong Tran: Like other projects I've done, it's an odd medley of ideas, thoughts, and concepts that I mull over during those random times of the day. Like that hour in between going to bed and before you actually fall asleep, or those 10 minutes between classes. Oh, and the 30 seconds from the time a professor asks the class a question to the moment he or she realizes no one is going to answer… fantastic.
Do you think everyone should send out surveys to people they know? If not, why just you?
Oh, God no. Some people actually expect this kind of ridiculous shit from me, and I was still hesitant about sending this one out. I was actually planning a different project, but had an “oh, what the hell” moment and printed these out.
What was the other project?
I think I'm going to save it for next year. So I've got nothing to say at the moment.
What if someone responded (truthfully) that they didn't like you?
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