School-Based Health Centers Linked To Decline In Black Teen Pregnancy
An article in the September issue of the American Journal of Health links Denver’s decline in the birthrate among black adolescents in the 1990s to the effectiveness of school-based health centers strategically placed in schools with high numbers of at-risk students. Authors of the article are Dr. Sue A. Ricketts and Bruce P. Guernsey, both members of the Prevention Services Division of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. According to the article, the birthrate among black teens fell the faster than any other ethnic group, by 26 percent from 1991-1997. Additionally, Colorado’s black birthrate has fallen faster than any state. During the same period, 1991-1997, the black teen birthrate in Colorado fell by 46 percent. According to the researchers, the rapid decline in black teen birthrates in schools with school-based health centers occurred without providing onsite access to birth-control methods. The Department of Public Health and Environment researchers point to the decline in the birthrate in teens in schools with health centers as the result of program strategies to increase access to health care.

CU-Boulder Center For Asian Studies Receives More Than $1.8 Million In Grants
The University of Colorado at Boulder Center for Asian Studies has been awarded two grants totaling more than $1.8 million from the U.S. Department of Education and will begin new language programs in Farsi and Indonesian. One grant establishes the campus center as one of only three National Resource Centers designated as Asian Studies Centers. The second grant is for the Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship program that supports graduate students studying a modern Asian language combined with international or area studies. Spread over four years, the National Resource Center grant will support additional faculty, Asia-related conferences and symposia, outreach to K-12 schools and the community, and new library acquisitions and staff. The grant also will fund the development of new language programs in Farsi and Indonesian. Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic and Hindi languages already are taught at CU-Boulder.
For more information about the Center for Asian Studies at CU-Boulder, visit www.colorado.edu/cas.

Wake Up With Whoopi On 95.7 FM
Denver radio listeners began waking up with the one and only Whoopi Goldberg on Sept. 18 on the new 95.7 The Party, formerly the Latino station Mega 95.7. “Wake Up With Whoopi,” syndicated nationally through Premier Radio Networks, will air every weekday from 5 to 9 a.m. The show will feature Goldberg’s incomparable talent and infectious energy, while blending comedy, celebrity guests, and daily topical discussions. Wake Up With Whoopi and The Party target the female audience in Denver. The Party 95.7’s on-air line up will feature Whoopi Goldberg from 5-9 A.M., The Party Program Director Joe Bevilacqua from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., and former Mega personalities Issa from 2 to 7 p.m., and Rafael Medina from 7 p.m. to 12 a.m.

Ritchie To Succeed Seawell As Chairman And CEO Of Denver Center For Performing Arts
Daniel L. Ritchie has been tapped to succeed Donald R. Seawell as Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Chief Executive Officer of The Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA), effective January 2007. Seawell, who has been the only person to hold these positions at the DCPA since its founding in 1972, will remain an integral member of the Board serving as Chairman Emeritus.
Ritchie’s civic involvement is considerable. In addition to his 16-year tenure as Chancellor of the University of Denver, he served as president of Independent Higher Education of Colorado and is president of the Temple Hoyne Buell Foundation and sits on the boards of the Central City Opera Association and the National Park System. A long-time patron of the arts, Ritchie joined the DCPA Board in 2005. Seawell is the founder of both the Denver Performing Arts Complex, the world’s largest such complex under one 80-foot-tall glass roof, and The Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA), the theatrical tenant of the Arts Complex. As Chairman of the Board, Mr. Ritchie will build upon the strong foundation that has been laid by one of the city’s great visionaries and will continue to make The Denver Center for the Performing Arts synonymous with excellence in theatre, education and community service.

Red Rocks Amphitheatre Offered For $1.4 Million... With Some Luck Of The Dice
The Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau (DMCVB) urges residents to go directly to jail – without passing go – to celebrate the Sept. 14 release of  MONOPOLY Here & Now ™, the contemporary game board of an American classic that now features Red Rocks Amphitheatre. The results of the MONOPOLY Here & Now™ Edition online vote were announced on ABC Good Morning America, and Denver’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre finds itself between Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell and a new Cell Phone Service square. Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park completes the bright pink property threesome. Last Spring, Denver was selected as one of America’s favorite destinations and was represented, along with 21 other cities, in an online vote that would decide the look of the new game board. This modern take on the traditional game that Americans have come to love features 22 cities from across the United States, airports instead of railroads and game pieces that include a laptop computer, a cell phone and McDonald’s french fries.
For more information, visit www.monopoly.com.