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We the People, a nationwide community public affairs campaign launched by the International Channel to celebrate citizenship, marked the accomplishments of Colorado's Asian immigrants with a reception and awards ceremony Nov. 14 at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

The reception was held in one of the museum's open atriums, with about 150 people gathered to enjoy food and drinks until the rousing and raucous sound of a Lion Dance performed by the Boulder-based Shaolin Hung Mei Kung Fu Association called all the attendees' attention. The crowd followed the dancers to another atrium, where the Lion Dance continued with the group's usual vigorous athleticism.

The evening's program included speeches by John Sie, founder, chairman and CEO of Starz Encore Group and International Channel, International Channel Networks president Kent Rice, AT&T Broadband senior vice president Joe Stackhouse and John Wright, president of the Asian Chamber.

Following the speeches, a half-hour segment of an International Channel documentary series, "In America," was screened for the audience. The film focused on the history of Chinese immigration to the United States, with poignant stories and commentary from Chinese Americans including US Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, who was born in Taiwan and moved to the US when she was 8 years old. The other segments of "In America" feature the histories of Russian and East Indian immigrants; the series will be shown on cable television in February.

The Vision in America Awards, which closed the evening, were given to Dig Wen Hsu and John Yee.

Yee has been a teacher and community leader in the Denver area for five decades. He was born in Kunming in the Yunnan Province of China, and during the Sino-Japanese war he joined the Kunming-based American Volunteer Group fighter pilot squadron, better known as the "Flying Tigers."

In 1944, Yee came to the U.S. to help train Chinese air force cadets, and after the war he received a scholarship to the University of Denver. He also studied at CU-Boulder, and then began teaching in the Aurora Public Schools, DU and Metro State College.

He's now retired and dedicates his time to the Denver-Kunming Sister Cities Committee, Kindred Spirits Council for the Performing Arts, Mayor's Asian Advisory Council and the Governor's Asian Pacific American Advisory Council. Yee has received the Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Award and the Americans by Choice Distinguished Service Award.

Ding Wen Hsu has been active in Denver's Asian communities for 23 years, focusing on helping immigrants assimilate into life in America. For the past three years, Hsu served as the principal of the Colorado Chinese Language School, the largest school of its kind in the state.

Hsu is a fellow of the Asian Pacific American Women's Leadership Institute and the president of the Chinese American Council of Colorado, an umbrella organization for metro Denver's Chinese American community. In addition to her community work, she is co-owner and president of Pacific Western Technologies Ltd., an engineering consulting company headquartered in Denver with offices in Tennessee, New Mexico and Texas.

Hsu is the chair of the 2001 and 2002 Dragon Boat Festival. The inaugural event, this past August, succeeded beyond expectations, reflecting the public support of the Denver area and the interest in cultural traditions of the area's Asian Pacific Islander communities.

Yee was given a $1,000 check for the Kunming Sister City Project; Hsu was given a $1,000 check for the 2002 Dragon Boat Festival.

The event was sponsored by International Channel Networks, AT&T Broadband and the Asian Chamber of Commerce.

For more information about We the People, click to the www.internationalchannel.com.