Bryan's WRIT 340 Blog

TO: Clark Hansen, CEO, AMDP FROM: Bryan Wu, R&D Analyst, AMDP DATE: March 11, 2022 SUBJECT: Investment Proposal: Philz Coffee As per your request, I have conducted extensive research to find a company for AMDP to invest in. The company must encompass the goal of AMDP to operate not only in a financially profitable way but also while maintaining a socially responsible and environmentally sustainable baseline of operations. After careful consideration, I recommend Philz Coffee as a potential investment. Philz Coffee is a San Francisco-based coffee shop that dedicates itself to its green sourcing initiatives and generous donation programs.  AMDP Investment Standards Before I dive into Philz Coffee, I would like to revisit the basic criteria for AMDP’s consideration of investment.  Triple Bottom Line The Triple Bottom Line is a concept introduced by John Elkington that measures a company’s financial, social, and environmental performance (Hindle). The three separate bottom lin...

The Monterey Bay Aquarium Having been interested in the ocean all my life, the Monterey Bay Aquarium has always been a place where I begged my parents to take me every year. Located along the Central Coast of California, the aquarium is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to the research and conservation of native marine life in Monterey. It is a spot perfect for any age, and even now, I still try to visit the aquarium at least once a year. The aquarium itself has many exhibits, ranging from the rocky shores to the kelp forest. The main attraction of the aquarium is the sea otter exhibit. Located in the center of the building, it’s hard to miss the big tank or the bigger crowds around it. Another popular display is the jellyfish, which is part of the open sea exhibit. Usually, you can cycle through all exhibits within 1.5 hours. But, the aquarium has a bunch of events that they host, such as animal feedings, touch pools, or even informational presentations from researchers. Here...

How much are you willing to dedicate to a cause? Despite all the challenges, all the people telling you’re wrong, all the abuse you suffer through, can you persevere? Ruth Coker Burks was visiting her friend in the hospital when she heard faint cries from a room labeled “BIOHAZARD”. Inside, was a sickly young man calling out for his mother. Abandoned by the world, he passed with Ruth by his side, helping him through his last moments. This is the start of Burks’ memoir, All the Young Men , where she strives to spread awareness about the AIDS crisis–first in her town of Hot Springs and later on a national level. Burks thus begins her journey to combat the ignorance of the disease prevalent in her Christian town and to directly help those affected by the deadly disease. Throughout all her hardships, from the loss of her job to the death of her ex-husband, Burks continues to fight. She reorganizes her pantry as a medication supply closet. She attends conferences to advocate for the victims...

Spilling the Tea All the Juicy Details about Your Soon-to-be Favorite Drink Tea. This popular beverage can be either hot or cold, sweet or unsweetened, or even with milk or no milk. Despite its popularity, few people know much about tea except to add hot water, wait, and enjoy. Fun fact, there are only two words (with exceptions of course) used to reference this drink: cha and tea (Sonnad). This differentiation traces back hundreds of years to the advent of the Silk Road. When traders came to China, they took back with them the dried leaves of the tea plant. The Mandarin pronunciation, cha, spread along with this product. Today, much of mainland Asia along with eastern Africa uses a variation of the root word cha to describe what we know as tea, such as the Persian chay. On that note, the word tea has a much more recent history. In the 17th century, European powers began extending their roots eastward, bringing with them a new age of globalization. British, French, and Dutch traders sa...

In my English class during my sophomore year of high school, my teacher provided the class with a list of books that stretched five pages. Our assignment was to pick one of these books and write a “Critical Research Essay”. Intimidated by the long list of books, I decided to judge the books based on their titles and covers. This was my greatest mistake. A few days after I had submitted my selection, I decided to finally buy the book and start reading. To my horror, I discovered that the book was over 600 pages long of dense material–something I didn’t anticipate.  This experience taught me a valuable lesson: do extensive research before choosing a book to read! For my book, I chose All the Young Men by Ruth Coker Burks. At first, I was deciding between this book and Beautiful Country: A Memoir by Qian Julie Wang. At first, I’ll admit that I picked these two books because of their page count. But, I grew to love their stories. On one hand, I really wanted to read Beautiful Country...