The real deal: Finding authentic Chinese food

By Yu Miao For the Camera
Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Susan Wang remembers Fairview High's all-cultures week, when other Chinese-American students would bring Chinese food to celebrate their culture.

"I looked at the food they brought, and thought, 'You gotta be kidding me.' Egg rolls, cheese wontons, fried rice, chow mein -- those are not real Chinese food," she says.

But she wasn't surprised.

Now, a freshman at the University of Colorado, Wang has a unique perspective on Chinese food. Her father, Dave Wang, is a chef who worked for more than two decades in nearly every Chinese restaurant in Boulder, serving up what Americans call Chinese food.

At home, it was a different story. Dave made a variety of stir-fried vegetables, as well as dumplings and lots of noodles, although not the type commonly served in restaurants. He made mianpianzi, a square noodle from his hometown in Lanzhou, Gansu province. In addition, nearly everything at home was made from scratch, even dumpling skins and bread. It was fresher, less sweet and less likely to be fried.

Susan's observations about the disparity between authentic Chinese cooking and its Americanized counterpart are the subject of a book, "The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food," by Jennifer 8. Lee, a Chinese-American who works as New York Times reporter.

The title refers to Lee's discovery in the seventh grade that fortune cookies are not Chinese.

"It was like learning I was adopted while being told there was no Santa Claus," Lee writes in her book.

There are eight main schools of cooking in China, Dave Wang says. But the early immigrants who came to the United States to build railroads, and later opened restaurants, were exclusively Cantonese. After President Nixon visited China in 1972, more regional Chinese cuisines made their way to America, including Sichuan and Hunan style. But even these dishes are not quite the same as the food in their native land.

One problem is finding authentic ingredients. The Sichuan peppercorn, for example, -- a central spice in Sichuan dishes such as Mapo tofu -- was banned by the Food and Drug Administration from 1968 to 2005 because it was believed to carry a virus harmful to citrus trees.

Although the ban's enforcement was loose enough that some restaurants still served it, the fiery Sichuan peppercorn was also an acquired taste for Americans, since it makes the mouth go numb. Even lots of Chinese people living outside of the Sichuan region can't take the heat.

Also working against authenticity: Americans' squeamishness.

"Americans don't like food that reminds them (of) where it came from," Lee says.

"You'll never see dishes with eyeballs, claws, feet, ears or stomach." She adds, "Americans also don't like foods that are transparent or jiggle in your mouth, unless it's Jell-O." -- that eliminates jellyfish, sea cucumber and any kind of weird fungus.

Chinese people also eat a greater variety of vegetables than Americans do. This is even truer of mushrooms and fungi -- the Chinese eat dozens of varieties, Lee says.

The best place to find authentic Chinese food in the United States is in a well-established Chinatown, such as those in New York or San Francisco, Lee says.

More authentic Chinese cooking pops up occasionally in Boulder. In 1996, Dave Wang, opened a restaurant in Boulder, Chinese Dumpling House, where he sold dumplings, steamed buns, noodles and Chinese cold dishes.

"I would call it authentic Chinese food," he says. "I pretty much brought my own home kitchen out front to the community."

However, high rent forced him to close the restaurant in 2001.

Even in well-traveled Boulder, departing too far from the typical Chinese-American menu can be risky for a restaurateur. Chinese food in America has the reputation of being fast, high quality and cheap, says Kenny Liang, chef and owner of the Orchid Pavilion in Boulder. Restaurants therefore use inexpensive ingredients, pre-made sauces, and fast cooking techniques.

Many authentic Chinese dishes can be time-consuming and call for exotic ingredients, Liang says. Few restaurants make the effort to prepare such dishes, since most customers still order sesame chicken or some other Americanized Chinese food.

Nancy Kao, owner of the Lee Yuan restaurant in the Baseline Meadows shopping center, decided to try offering a more authentic menu on the weekend.

She serves traditional food from Taiwan 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday. The breakfast menu, as Kao calls it, features more than 20 authentic Taiwan dishes including fresh soybean milk, fried bread stick, red bean cake, meatballs, beef noodles, fish-leg soup, dried tofu and much more.

Taiwanese cuisine is based on Chinese cooking, particularly the Fujian style, as well incorporating Japanese influences. Kao said Taiwanese cooking tends to be plainer than cooking from most parts of the mainland, emphasizing the original flavor of the ingredients.

On her weekend menu, Kao includes Taiwan xiaochi, which means "small eat." Xiaochi is considered a hallmark of Taiwan culture, which can found in street stalls, night markets and convenience stores.

Kao makes everything on her menu from scratch. It keeps her up until midnight every Friday. But she says she just has a passion for it.

Every weekend, her restaurant is packed with Chinese-speaking customers.

Yuwen Lin, a computer engineer, took his family to Lee Yuan one Saturday. He moved to America from Taiwan 15 years ago, and still craves a taste of home.

"I've also lived in Dallas where it is full of Chinese immigrants, but the Taiwan snacks here are so authentic that they can compete with any restaurants over there."

Chicken with Garlic Sauce

2 to 3 garlic gloves, sliced into pieces

2 bunches scallions, chopped

½ teaspoon chopped ginger

5 to 6 ounces of chicken breast, sliced into pieces

½ red pepper, sliced into strips

½ green pepper, sliced into strips

2 to 3 ounces snow peas

3 teaspoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon vinegar

2 teaspoons sugar

½ teaspoon hot chili

1 teaspoon corn starch

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

Directions: Heat a pot of water until boiling.

Add chicken to the water and boil for 3 minutes. Remove and drain. Add vegetables in the water and boil for half a minute. Remove and drain.

.Add a small amount of water to the cornstarch and mix well.

Heat a wok and add oil, then garlic, ginger, and scallions. Stir fry for 1 minute.

Add soy sauce, 2 tablespoon of water, sugar, vinegar and hot chili sauce

Add chicken, cornstarch mixed with water and vegetables. Stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes. Serve immediately.

Source: Kenny Liang, chef and owner of the Orchid Pavilion

Taiwan Stewed Beef Noodle

For the sauce:

1 cup of soy sauce

1 teaspoon cooking wine

1 teaspoon spicy bean sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

6 cups of water

For the beef and noodles:

11/3 dried Chinese wheat noodles

11/3 pounds beef shank

8 leaves of green cabbage

4 bunches scallions, white parts smashed with flat side of a large knife and green parts chopped

3 garlic gloves, smashed

2 sections of star anise

4 slices of ginger

1 fresh red chili pepper

10 cups of water

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

½ teaspoon sesame oil

Directions: Mix the sauce ingredients; set aside.

Clean and cut the beef, blanch until brown on the outside.

Heat vegetable oil in a pot, fry ginger, garlic, scallions, star anise, red chili pepper and beef. Add sauce. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for no less than an hour, until meat is tender.

Cook noodles in boiling water until tender, drain noodles well in a colander and place them into 6 big soup bowls; blanch the green cabbage in boiling water for 1 minute.

Ladle broth over noodles and top with meat, scallion greens and sprinkle sesame oil.

Source: Nancy Kao, Lee Yuan Restaurant, Boulder

DanDan Mian (Sichuan Spicy Noodles)

8 ounces pork, minced

1 tablespoon dark soy sauce

1 teaspoon salt

6 ounces peanut oil

3 tablespoons garlic, finely chopped

2 tablespoons ginger, peeled and finely chopped

4 tablespoons onion, finely chopped

2 tablespoons peanut butter

2 tablespoons dark soy sauce

2 tablespoons chili oil

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorn, ground

2 teaspoons salt

8 ounces chicken stock

12 ounces dry thin Chinese egg noodles

1 handful roasted peanuts, finedly chopped

Directions: Combine pork, soy sauce, and salt in a small bowl and mix well. Heat a wok or large skillet until hot. Add 4 ounces of the oil and stir-fry the pork, stirring with a spatula to break it into small pieces. When the pork is lightly browned, about 3 minutes, remove and set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to boil. (This will be for the noodles.) While the water is heating, go to the next step.

Reheat the wok (add the remaining 2 ounces of oil if needed) and stir-fry the garlic, ginger, and onions until aromatic, about 1 minute. Then add the peanut butter, soy sauce, chilli oil, sesame oil, Sichuan pepper, salt, and chicken stock and simmer for 5 to 7 minutes.

Meanwhile, when the pot of water has come to boil, toss in noodles and cook for 2 minutes if they're fresh or 5 minutes if they're dry. Drain the noodles well. Divide into individual bowls or put them all into a large bowl for sharing. Ladle the sauce on top, top with pork and chopped peanuts, and serve while hot.

Serve with Sichuan Cucumber Salad

Source: Adapted from Ken Hom, A Taste of China via www. appetiteforchina.com/recipes/

Sichuan Cucumber Salad

1 large or 2 medium-sized cucumbers, peeled

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons cooking oil, like peanut or vegetable

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon Sichuan pepper, ground or whole, or substitute red chili flakes

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 teaspoons sesame oil

1 tablespoon sugar

1 or 2 teaspoons chili garlic paste

Directions: Cut the cucumbers in half lengthwise. Then cut each half again so you have quartered strips. Cut or scoop out the seedy middle section. Slice each strip into 1-inch cubes.

Put the cucumbers in a bowl, and toss with salt. Set aside for 5 to 10 minutes, as the salt draws out excess moisture from the cucumbers.

Heat a small pan on medium-low heat. Add cooking oil, then add garlic and Sichuan pepper. Cook until fragrant, but be careful to not to let the garlic burn. Set aside in a small dish to cool.

Drain the cucumbers through a strainer or sieve, and return them to the bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the rice vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, and chili garlic paste. Pour the mixture over the cucumbers. Add in the garlic and pepper that was cooling, and mix well. Serve at room temperature, or chill in the fridge for up to a day to serve cold.

Source: Adapted from Ken Hom, A Taste of China via www. appetiteforchina.com/recipes/

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

Camera Staff
Sunday, April 20, 2008

Devlin Cronin, a junior at Monarch High School in Louisville

Accomplishment: Devlin placed in the 90th percentile on the National German Exam given by the American Association of Teachers of German each December.

He was selected in March to be one of 35 national recipients of the association's free study/travel award.

Devlin will travel to Germany this June, live with a German host family for three weeks, attend German school and travel to various cultural and political points of interest with the group.

Q: What do you like about learning a foreign language?

A: I like the experience of something new, something outside of what you normally hear. Plus, the fact that it makes communicating in private a lot less of a hassle if the other person also speaks the language.

Q: What tricks did you use to score well in the National German Exam?

A: As much as I would like to say it was my sheer, natural talent at German, in reality, it was a combination of dumb luck and logical elimination.

Q: What do you want to see in Germany?

A: I am not looking forward to seeing any one thing in Germany, but rather, just the culture on a whole. To be honest, I think that simply seeing a different country in general is more exciting and intriguing than any specific locations.

Q: What do you like most about high school?

A: I would have to say that I most like the fact that it works perfectly into a laid-back lifestyle. I go to school for eight hours a day, I do my homework, and I have fun. That's my day. I really think that the capability to do that is the best thing about high school.

Q: If you could change one thing about high school, what would it be?

A: The endless policies, regulations and rules. Yes, we are completely out-of-control teenagers who, given the opportunity, would blow the world up. I understand that. But in all honesty, if school is supposed to prepare us for life in the "real world," how is raising us in a totalitarian oligarchy going to prepare us for anything?

If we cannot be trusted to go to the restroom without a pass, how are we supposed to vote for the president, or make a contribution of any kind to the country?

Q: What makes a good teacher?

A: In my mind, a good teacher is someone who incorporates the class in a large way, rather than simply lecturing to no end. There are some classes where this is difficult, such as history (though my current history teacher is excellent), but with most, it should almost be easier for the teacher to do this, as ittakes more of the work off them. I still think school should be fun, not a chore.

Q: What do you like to do for fun?

A: I'm a normal 17-year-old boy. In other words, I play video games. Occasionally I will also read recreationally, but during the school year, I'm generally so worn out by the class novels that the inspiration to read more is simply nonexistent.

Q: What's your dream job?

A: I haven't a clue what my dream job would be. Obviously, something I would enjoy doing, and, obviously, something that would pay decently. The problem is that those two do not often coincide. I have little to no idea about what I want to do later in life.

Scrambled science: No yolk, eggcentric contest at CU

By Yu Miao, For the Camera
Friday, April 18, 2008
The ingredients: rubber bands, cotton balls, cottage cheese, ketchup, duct tape and a Ziploc bag.

The finished product: A contraption that would protect a raw egg from breaking when it was dropped from an eight-story tower.

That particular collection of household items worked for freshman Joey Rusch and his team of seven other University of Colorado engineering students at the school's annual egg drop Thursday. Their egg, contained in the protective device they named "Be Dazzled," was intact after its fall.

"I can't believe we made it," Rusch said. "This really lights up my day."

The egg drop is part of the university's three-day Engineering Days.

Engineering Days is a nationwide event on college campuses to celebrate the engineering profession. It has been around at CU since the 1960s, said Sherry Snyder, director of student programs for the College of Engineering and Applied Science.

"It's an opportunity for students to apply their engineering skills, and also to get out to have some fun," she said.

Mike Elliott, one of thecollege's lab coordinators, has been on the judging panel at least five times.

"Having been in the industry for many years, I'm interested to see their ideas," he said. "There are some very unique ideas. I also enjoy the humor."

Other devices in the contest included "The Bubbly Wubbly" -- a contraption made of four 2-liter Coke bottles bound together with duct tape, along with syrup, corn starch, Pringles cans and four Mentos candy boxes.

Another entry called "This Is Your Brain After Intro to Chem 1300" used Styrofoam, a cardboard box, baking soda and vinegar.

The contest is organized by CU's professional engineering fraternity, Theta Tau. Nineteen teams enrolled in this year's contest to compete in five categories: "most destroyed without damaging egg;" "largest volume;" "crowd pleaser;" "dean's choice;" and "best use of an engineering principle." Six out of the 19 eggs broke after the drop.

"It's a messy business, for sure," assistant dean Mary Steiner said when the contest was over. "But the students enjoy participating and watching it. It was a lot of fun for all us."

Today's activities include a paper airplane competition from 9 to 11 a.m. in the Carlson Gym and a balsa-wood rocket launch from 1 to 4 p.m. on the Business Field. Students can build their rockets at a table set up in the Engineering Center lobby.
photo 1: A laser printer used to protect and egg explodes on impact during the University of Colorado Engineering Days Egg Drop at the Engineering Center Office Tower.

photo 2: Adrain Perea, right, a junior in mechanical engineering, and Jon Struthers, left, a senior in architectural engineering, drop Mentos into Coke bottles prior to releasing their device at the University of Colorado Engineering Days egg drop at the engineering tower Thursday.

Student Spotlight: Brett Brophy, fifth-grader at Crest View Elementary School

Brett Brophy, fifth-grader at Crest View Elementary School

Accomplishment: As a semi-finalist of the 2007 Colorado Wahoo's Fish Taco Mural Contest, Brett spent three days replicating his abstract and colorful design onto a big mural door. He didn't win the contest, but he had fun at the Gallery Walk in Denver, where he sat with his painting and talked to the public about his work.

Q: What kind of art do you like to create?

A: Well, my art is abstract, with lots of colors, shapes and designs. I also like to draw Pokemon cartoon characters.

Q: What do you like most about elementary school?

A: I like gymnastics in P.E., basketball at recess, multiplication in math and art class.

Q: If you could change one thing about elementary school, what would it be?

A: I would like to do gymnastics in P.E. for one week longer than we usually do. It's really fun. There are balance beams, mats to roll on, ropes to climb on, springboards and a huge yellow net hanging from the ceiling.

Q: What makes a good teacher?

A: Someone who is nice and not very strict, and gives us rewards for A's on spelling tests and good behavior in the classroom. Also, someone who does special things, like talent shows, and giving us second chances if we don't turn homework in on time.

Q: What's the last book you read?

A: "Homer Price" by Robert McCloskey, but I'm also reading a "Goosebumps" book at home right now.

Q: What's your favorite movie?

A: "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End."

Q: What do you do for fun?

A: I play videogames or hit balls with a tennis racket outside. I also like to build with Legos and Bionicles. I really like to draw, but only when I feel like it.

Q: What do you want to be when you grow up?

A: Maybe an artist or a building designer, or something else that I haven't thought about yet.

Bohling a tough cookie when it comes to softball

By Yu Miao, For the Camera
Saturday, April 12, 2008
It's not just about softball. Wendy Bohling also teaches girls to be "tough cookies."

Among the 460 kids in the Monarch Little League in the Louisville and Superior area, less than 10 percent of them are girls. Bohling, 44, the vice president of marketing for the group and a softball coach, leads a team of 15 girls ranging in age from 7 to 9.

Many of the girls had never even seen a softball game when they showed up for their first practice, Bohling said. It takes about four or five sessions just to teach the basics.

"It's a hard game to learn, because there are so many little rules," she said, adding that sometimes girls do get hurt in the game.

At this year's first practice, three girls burst into tears within the first 15 minutes. To encourage them to continue, Bohling's daughter, Madison, 9, came up with the "tough cookie award" idea -- small stickers on gloves to honor bravery.

"You get a 'tough cookie award' if you get hurt, shake it off, and just go," said Madison, who has played softball for two years.

Bohling wants her girls to have fun, to work together, and to become more competitive.

"It's a good thing to teach girls to be aggressive, in a good way, because boys innately have that," she said.

Having played various sports herself as a little girl, Bohling won a full scholarship to play basketball and softball in college. She majored in math and computer science, and worked for years in the nearly male-exclusive field of engineering.

Bohling said she has always been a strong believer that women should support and mentor each other.

"I think we also have a responsibility to help our young girls," she said, "help them to have confidence to try out things that they've never tried before."

Paragliding still a 'microsport' in the U.S.

By Yu Miao, For the Camera
Thursday, April 10, 2008
One summer 19 years ago, Granger Banks, a teacher in the Boulder Valley School District, was traveling in Switzerland. On a hike in the mountains he saw people floating down in "parachutes," as though they had jumped out of an airplane.

He was puzzled because there was no airplane in sight.

At the time, paragliding was a new sport, almost nonexistent in the United States. Banks decided to stay in Switzerland to learn the sport. As a mountaineer, he thought it would be an ideal way to avoid tedious hikes down from a summit.

He came home a year later, got an instructor's license and bid goodbye to teaching school. He opened ParaSoft Paragliding School in Boulder. At the time, there were only about 10 instructors in the whole country.

"When I got into this sport, I thought, 'This is great,'" Banks said. "Everybody is going to have one of these in their garage. Everybody is going to do it."

So far that hasn't happened.

A paraglider is a soft canopy that can be launched by foot. Though it is made of soft material and can be stuffed into a backpack, aerodynamically the canopy is closer to an airplane wing than to a parachute. Once aloft, an experienced pilot can catch updrafts and thermals and fly for hours.

Flights can extend to dozens, even hundreds of miles. Until a few months ago, the world distance record was 263 miles, set by one-time Boulder resident Will Gadd. Now the record is up to 287 miles, set by three Brazilian pilots.

Today, paragliding is still a "microsport" in the United States. There are 3,699 registered paraglider pilots with the U.S. Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, said Michelle Burtis, a member and instructor coordinator at USHPA. France, the most popular country for the sport, has about 25,000 participants. Boulder County has only two licensed instructors, including Banks, according to the USHPA Web site, www.ushpa.aero. The other is Kay Tauscher, of Boulder.

Why hasn't the sport "taken off" -- so to speak -- in the United States? Access is one problem, Banks said. Many landlords here forbid paragliders to land on their property, fearing lawsuits. In Boulder, the only training ground is Foothills Community Park.

In Europe, people don't need to sign any releases to take paragliding lessons, Banks said. "They just do it and accept the risk."

Last year, Michael Brice, a 31-year-old accountant, moved into a new apartment in north Boulder. The first time he looked out the window he saw four or five people flying above the foothills to the west. "That looks like a ton of fun," he said.

He'd just had a rough summer prior to settling down in Boulder. He was assaulted while working in Chicago and had to spend months in a hospital and in rehabilitation. At one point, his doctor gave him a 35 percent chance to survive.

"After thinking you could die getting assaulted, I would much rather die doing something cool and fun," he said. So he decided to give paragliding a try.

He contacted Banks and started with a beginner lesson.

The first day's lesson was painstaking. It involved running along the flat ground in the park, learning to inflate the canopy and keep it over his head. It was like flying a large kite, one that was attached to his body. He was wiped out after a day.

On the second day, Banks took Brice partway up the hillside. Brice spread the canopy on the ground, attached it to his harness and ran downhill. The canopy inflated, and Brice was in the air.

"After taking the first flight, I was hooked," he said. "I think paragliding is the closest a person is going to get to flying like a bird, and the feeling is absolutely awesome."

Paragliding is not a cheap sport. To get professional training and well-made equipment, one would have to be willing to invest $4,000 to $6,000.

"It's expensive, but compared to other ways of flying, it's not that expensive," Banks said. "I call it 'aviation for the masses.'"

Like any aviation sport, paragliding involves risks. Last spring, Judy Karpeichik, 41, of Boulder, died after her paraglider was blown into power lines at Pueblo Reservoir. She and her husband were taking a paragliding-over-water safety course when the accident occurred.

The year before, Matthew Hecker, 21, of Boulder, was left in critical condition with head injuries after crashing at Wonderland Lake.

In the mid-1990s, Banks himself nearly died when his glider collapsed and he fell 100 feet from the sky onto a rocky hillside in north Boulder. He suffered severe head trauma and was able to eat, speak and write again only after months of rehabilitation.

Banks said people can minimize their risks by going through a USPHA-certified instructor.

And tandem flight is a good way to start, he said. The cost is $150 for one flight.

photo: Granger Banks, instructor with ParaSoft Paragliding School, glides through the air looking for thermals while paragliding at Foothills Community Park in north Boulder on Tuesday.

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

Camera Staff
Sunday, April 6, 2008

Accomplishment: Ryan, Sara and Morie were chosen to be the Talk Team reporters for "Studio B," a 30-minute, news-magazine style TV show airing on Channel 22.

Q: What does working as a reporter feel like to you?

Ryan: It feels like I have a lot of power, because many people follow what I say.

Sara: It is interesting because you get to learn about what is happening in the community.

Morie: Being a reporter is a lot of fun. You get to help the viewers understand your point of view on subjects that mean a lot to you.

Q: What characteristics does one need to have to be a good reporter?

Ryan: They need to be good in front of a camera, and be able to write their own stories.

Sara: They need to have determination and know information about the story that they are reporting on.

Morie: I think you need to be open-minded to all of the subjects, and need to understand a lot about this particular subject; you also need to understand that not everyone thinks like you and you need to be careful not to say something harmful to anyone or anything so no one is offended.

Q: What do you like the most about middle school?

Ryan: The thing I like the most is ... lunch.

Sara: The new people and friends I have met.

Morie: The best thing about middle school is having so many new friends and just being able to hang out during lunch with a lot of different people. I also really like having different teachers each period so if you get a bad teacher you don't have to be in their classroom all day.

Q: If you could change one thing about middle school, what would it be?

Ryan: If I could change one thing, it would be to increase the lunch period. There isn't enough time.

Sara: I would like to see more elective choices and maybe a little less homework.

Morie: I think I would make it so you had more choices for your classes. I think being able to do what you love to do during the day makes you want to go to school more and would also help you become more excited about going to school every day.

Q: What makes a good teacher?

Ryan: Their ability to connect to their students.

Sara: A teacher who assigns fun projects and who loves what they do.

Morie: I think a good teacher is someone who is caring, but also a little strict on turning in assignments, someone who loves kids and someone who has a lot of free time to spend on grading many papers.

Q: What do you want to grow up to be?

Ryan: I want to grow up and own my own business.

Sara: I want to be a lawyer and an actress, (and maybe a chocolate taste tester).

Morie: I really want to be an actress, but I also want to become a lawyer. They both are so much work but you get a lot of satisfaction out of them in the end.

Safety guru gets national award

Jennifer Hanson promotes online safety for the the BVSD

By Yu Miao, For the Camera
Sunday, April 6, 2008

Jennifer Hanson arrived in Washington, D.C., in the midst of blooming cherry blossoms.

She went there to receive the Spirit of Online Safety Award sponsored by the Qwest Foundation and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

U.S. Reps. Mark Udall, D-Eldorado Springs, and Ed Perlmutter, D-Golden, presented the awards.

Hanson, an instructional technology specialist for the Boulder Valley School District and president of the Internet Safety Foundation in Colorado, has spent years helping students, parents and other educators become aware of the potential dangers of cyberspace.

Prior to overseeing online safety for Boulder Valley, Hanson spent seven years in classrooms in Denver's Cherry Creek School District. She says she has always been enthusiastic about incorporating the Internet and other technologies into day-to-day education, but she is also acutely aware of dangers lurking on the Web, especially for children.

Hanson is a volunteer for the Project Safe Childhood, an online safety initiative of the U.S. Attorney General. And in 2006, she and a group of others formed the Internet Safety Foundation, a nonprofit organization that aims to raise public awareness about online safety for children.

Hanson said the foundation has been trying various ways to reach the community, including "Colorado iCrew," which has members who are third-graders to college freshmen. The students educate their peers on Internet safety -- discussing online solicitation, identity theft and social networking sites -- through Podcast presentations.

In September, the foundation, collaborating with Boulder Valley and the U.S. Department of Justice, presented an "Internet Safety Summit" in Louisville, the first of its kind in the state.

Udall said at Thursday's ceremony that Hanson is "especially deserving of this award, as it shows her commitment to protecting the innocence of children by teaching them and their concerned parents about the dark side of the Internet."