Metro Magazine Spring 2011

VOL.

26

SPRING 2011

FOR ALUMNI & FRIENDS OF METROPOLITAN STATE COLLEGE OF DENVER

A work in progress PG. 12

I MET MY MATE AT METRO STATE PG. 18

HEARING, READING AND THEN DOING PG. 21

MetroWEar!

The Alumni Collection Spring 2011 Left to Right: Applique and embroidered hoodie navy S, M, L, XL, XXL $39.95 Front zip, Silk-screened hoodie cream S, M, L, XL, XXL $43.95 Silk-screened sweatshirt black S, M, L, XL, XXL $33.95 Zip-neck, silk-screened hoodie cream heather S, M, L, XL $33.95 Silk-screened hoodie hot pink S, M, L, XL $29.95 Applique and embroidered hoodie charcoal S, M, L, XL $39.95 Student models, left to right: John Paul Magno Jesse Vidal Jon Olsen Jaimee Rando Courtney Bruno Denicia Luna

MetroWear

TM

Order Form QTY

ITEM

Credit card orders can be called in to 303-556-4286 or faxed to 303-556-8392.

Include your card number and expiration date. Please reference code V 184 SPRING2011.

For mail orders:

SIZE

UNIT PRICE

Cost of Item(s) Ordered

Enclosed is my check payable to Auraria Campus Bookstore.

My mailing address STUDENT & AUXILIARY SERVICES

I can be reached at phone/e-mail

COLOR

Tax: • 7.72% for Denver residents • 3.9% for Metro area • 2.9% for the rest of Colorado • No tax for out-of-state residents Please add $7 shipping and handling per item.

Questions? Call: 303-556-4286

Mail your order to: Auraria Campus Bookstore Campus Box T, P.O. Box 173361•Denver, Co. 80217-3361

TOTAL COST

Please allow two to three weeks for delivery.

www.aurariabooks.com

TOTAL PRICE

SPRING

2011

Spring 2011 / Volume XXVI / Issue I I

///Contents

12

8

18

21

A work in progress

Seven Answers

I met my Mate at Metro state

Hearing, reading and then doing

Read about the lovebirds who put the “met” in Metro State.

Combining theory and practice, Metro State extends learning beyond classroom walls and into the real world of work.

Metro Magazine asks Castro Visiting Professor Metro State alums labor on and ¡Ask a Mexican! the frontlines of Colorado’s columnist Gustavo Arellano education reformation, a saucy questions and gets movement complicated spicy answers. by lackluster funding and intransigent interests.

DEPARTMENTS

2 3 6 24 30 32

Letter from the President Newsworthy Metrozoic Era Alumni Times The Rowdy Report Don’t Blink

Metro Magazine llllllllllllllll SPRING 2011

1

Metro Vision /// Letter from the President n Low-income students now represent 34 percent, up from 23 percent.

College News

n Students of color have increased from 24 percent to 28 percent. n The percentage of our student population who are Pell-eligible has gone from 23 to 34 percent. n The percentage of low-income to middle-income students has gone from 36 to 46 percent, meaning nearly one-half of our student body falls in this category.

Dear Alumni and Friends, Forty-five years after its humble beginnings, the time has come for Metro State to have its own identity on the Auraria Campus. I am delighted to report that the College broke ground in December on the 100 percentstudent-fee-funded Student Success Building—a physical demonstration of our commitment to student retention and graduation that will also connect us even more to the Denver community. The groundbreaking for the next Metro Statespecific building, the Hotel and Hospitality Learning Center (HLC), is scheduled for March 31, 2011. The HLC is funded by private donations and a public/private partnership, meaning the combined $110 million in projects do not use taxpayer dollars. You can follow the progress of these two projects at www.mscd.edu/ metrostaterising.

While establishing our identity on campus, we are also grappling with our identity in the community and the state. Our Strategic Name Initiative (www.mscd. edu/namechange) is assessing whether the time has come for a name for our institution that better reflects our evolution while staying true to our mission. I’d like to share with you a few statistics that speak to our commitment to that mission: n The number of first-generation-tocollege students has grown to 30 percent of our student body, up from 25 percent.

2 2

Metro Magazine llllllllllllllll FALL 2010 Metro Magazine llllllllllllllllSPRING 2011

By the time you’re reading this, our Board of Trustees will be reviewing the results from our name change survey conducted in February as well as feedback from other community outreach efforts and perhaps made their decision about pursuing one of three new names (Metropolitan State University of Denver, Denver State University, University of Central Colorado), or staying with our current name. If they decide on a new name, it will have to go to the Colorado State Legislature for approval.

Of course, one of the concerns of a potential name change would be cost, particularly in this time of dwindling state support of higher education. Our plan would be to transition into the new name over a year so that much of the cost would be normal operating expenses. We will also seek a private donor.

Name change aside, we’ve taken proactive steps to prepare strategically for additional budget cuts—approval of our five-year Financial Accountability Plan and our right-sizing with technology projects, among them. These steps provide a road map for our future, ensuring that we will continue to provide high-quality education, support services and financial aid to our more than 24,000 students.

Sincerely,

Stephen M. Jordan, Ph.D. President, Metro State

ExecUtive Editor Cathy Lucas

First-ever program to fund and train future franchisees

Editor Donna Fowler (’80) Assistant Editor Angelia McGowan Art Director/Designer Julie Strasheim Graphic Designer Kelly Pierce Photographers Dave Neligh Chris Schneider Julie Strasheim

Jessica Taves Mark Woolcott

METRO MAGAZINE EDITORial BOARD Bridgette Coble, Director of Career Services Clay Daughtrey, Professor and Chair of Marketing Jeffrey Forrest (’90), Professor and Chair of Aviation and Aerospace Science Donna Fowler (’80), Director of Internal Communications Mark Jastoroff Director of Alumni Relations Richard Jividen (’00), Director of Creative Services Cathy Lucas, Associate Vice President of Communications and Advancement Lunden MacDonald, Assistant Professor of Spanish Angelia McGowan, Assistant Director of Communications Cherrelyn Napue (’99), Associate Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations Carmen Sanjurjo, Assistant Professor of Teacher Education Julie Strasheim, Art Director, Creative Services © 2011 Metropolitan State College of Denver.

Metro Magazine is published three times a year by the Metropolitan State College of Denver Office of College Communications for alumni and friends of the College. All rights reserved.

Address correspondence to: Metropolitan State College of Denver Metro Magazine Office of College Communications Campus Box 86, PO Box 173362 • Denver, CO 80217-3362 Please send letters to the editor, editorials and inquiries to: Donna Fowler, editor, at the address above or fowlerd@mscd.edu.

E-mail alumni address changes and Class Acts submissions to: alumni@mscd.edu.

The opinions expressed in Metro Magazine do not necessarily reflect the policies and opinions of Metropolitan State College of Denver nor imply endorsement by its officers or by the College’s alumni association.

Nondiscrimination Policy Metropolitan State College of Denver does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, national origin, sex, age, sexual orientation or disability in admissions or access to, or treatment or employment in, its educational programs or activities.

/// Newsworthy

Metro State skyline to add two new silhouettes One new Metro State building is underway, and the groundbreaking for another is just around the corner.

On a blustery December day, the College broke ground on the 100 percent student fee-funded Student Success Building—the first Metro State-owned building on the Auraria Campus.

A host of city and business leaders joined more than 200 Metro State students, faculty and staff for the ceremony kicking off the construction of the estimated $62 million building that will be located on 8.5 acres between Seventh and Ninth Sts., parallel to Auraria Pkwy.

When the four-story, 145,000 square-feet building opens in 2012, it will help increase the College’s dedicated classroom and administration space by 25 percent, housing classrooms, support programs and administration offices, with an adjacent central quad.

Then, on March 31, Roadrunners will don hard hats again for the groundbreaking of the Hotel and Hospitality Learning Center (HLC). Alumni are invited to attend.

And start saving your Marriott Rewards points: The HLC, one of only 11 learning centers in the United States affiliated with a fully functioning hotel (the HLC will be a Springhill Suites by Marriott), will rise just west of southbound Speer Blvd. and Auraria Pkwy.

The HLC, together with the Student Success Building, make up $110 million in construction projects, fueling Colorado’s economy without involving taxpayer dollars.

Metro State’s Center for Innovation (CFI) continues to live up to its name with a firstof-its-kind Franchise Ownership Program.

According to CFI Director Mick Jackowski, the program will further solidify Denver as a key national test market for small business development with a formula that will benefit investors, franchisors, franchisees and the College.

Mick Jackowski

The franchise program will raise approximately $1 million to establish an initial funding pool. Asset management and securities service company BNY Mellon has provided the first seed contribution of $100,000.

Some of the initial franchise companies are Camp Bow Wow, Cartridge World, Grease Monkey and Smiling Moose Deli, among several others.

The concept has already gained national recognition with an award for Best Practitioner Paper for Innovative Fundraising from the U.S. Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

Though a few colleges have franchise management classes, Jackowski says none provides the investment for students to purchase a franchise as well.

Learn more at www.metrostateinnovate.org.

•

•

To keep up with the latest developments in these historic projects, visit www.mscd.edu/metrostaterising. See the winds of change blowing at the Student Success Building groundbreaking at www.mscd.edu/metromagazine or use this bar code to view it on your smart phone.

Metro Magazine is printed on recycled paper.

Metro Magazine llllllllllllllll SPRING 2011

3

Newsworthy

In MemoriAm

/// College News

One of Metro State’s forefathers, former Dean Keats McKinney, 99, died Dec. 16, 2010. A military burial was held at Fort Logan National Cemetery on

Su Teatro star

Fall commencement breaks records Metro State’s fall commencement on Dec. 19 at the Colorado Convention Center was the largest fall graduating class yet, with more than 1,140 graduates, a 15.5 percent increase over the number of fall 2009 graduates.

Students of color represented 24.6 percent of the candidates, a 39.8 percent increase over last year’s class. Latino students made up 12.1 percent of the candidates, a 10 percent increase.

African Americans were at 4.5 percent, outstripping 2009’s numbers by 48.6 percent.

Ages spanned the range of 20 to 63.

Transfer students made up 69.9 percent of the candidates, a 20.5 percent increase from last fall.

The top majors were management, behavioral science, accounting, biologyand psychology. Nearly 15 percent were seeking teacher licensure.

For nearly 15 years, students at Metro State have had the opportunity to role-play with Chicana/o Studies Affiliate Professor Anthony Garcia, who happens to be the longtime artistic director of Su Teatro.

Garcia, 57, was recently recognized as The Denver Post “Theater Person of the Year” for his work with the oldest Chicano theater company in the United States. The mission of the 38-year-old company is to create, produce and promote theater and other art that celebrates the experiences, history, language and heritage of Latinos in the U.S. and the Americas.

Read an interview with Garcia at www.mscd.edu/metromagazine; click on Summer 2010.

•

•

Former House speaker joins Metro State’s Board

In one of his last official acts, Gov. Bill Ritter announced the appointment of former Speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives Terrance D. Carroll to the Metro State Board of Trustees, pending Senate confirmation.

His term expires Dec. 31, 2014.

Carroll served four terms in the Colorado House of Representatives (D-Denver), from 2002-10. He was the first African American in Colorado to hold the position of Speaker of the House. He also chaired the Metro State legislative caucus from its formation in 2006 until he was term-limited in 2010.

Carroll replaces Trustee Antonio Esquibel, professor emeritus of Spanish, former vice president for student affairs and associate vice president for community outreach. Esquibel’s four-year term ended Dec. 31, 2010.

Carroll spoke of his alliance with Metro State in a recent Metro Magazine article. Read the story at www.mscd. edu/metromagazine and click on Fall 2009.

•

Support Metro State’s art programs The sale of this beautiful 45th Anniversary poster featuring artwork by student Sofia Castaneda-Meza will benefit the College’s fine art programs. $25 signed by the artist: $15 unsigned (shipping and handling included). To order contact the Office of Alumni Relations, 303-556-8320 or vmille17@mscd.edu.

Metro State considers name change

As Metro Magazine went to press, Metro State was in the midst of considering a possible name change.

The College’s Strategic Name Initiative was begun last year with a resolution from the Board of Trustees in February to assess the name. The intensive, three-month assessment that followed led the trustees to pursue the idea further based on results that showed continued confusion that Metro State is a community college and that a majority of the respondents feel the name does not reflect quality.

At the same time, the assessment found several benefits to a name change, among them:

n Support the College’s mission and strategic planning initiatives

n Help the institution attract more private dollars and maximize opportunities for growth

n Increase the value of the degree

“The trustees believe, and I agree, that any change that would serve to clarify and elevate the position of Metro State would raise the quality expectations as well as our retention and graduation rates,” says President Stephen Jordan.

“Plus it would increase the value of our degree in the minds of employers and other stakeholders.”

Based on results of a survey conducted in February and other community outreach efforts, the trustees were to make a final decision out of four possibilities, after which legislative approval will be pursued if a new name is chosen. The four names are: Metropolitan State University of Denver, Denver State University, University of Central Colorado and Metropolitan State College of Denver.

Go to www.mscd.edu/namechange for the latest news.

•

Dec. 22, 2010.

McKinney was instrumental in creating the Green Report which served as a blueprint for the College, with H. Grant Vest, secretary of the Trustees of the Consortium of State Colleges.

A little known fact is that McKinney served briefly as the College’s president when, on July 25, 1971, he took the reins of Metro State for approximately two weeks, pending a final decision by the trustees on the selection of a new president.

•

Emeritus Criminal Justice Professor Jackie Lynn Wilson passed away on

Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 25, 2010. She was 77.

Wilson started teaching at Metro State in 1977 and was chair of the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology from 1979 to 1982. She retired in 1999.

“She was innovative, smart and creative,” says former colleague Faye Rison, who worked with Wilson for 22 years. “She wrote and developed a class in terrorism in early 1977 before intimidation by force and threats were popular.”

•

It’s a great year to be a Roadrunner!

Metro State, the leader in educating undergraduate Coloradans, has partnered with Bonacquisti Wine Company, an award-winning boutique winery, to toast the College’s 45th Anniversary while helping our students achieve their educational goals.

Your purchase of Rowdy Red, our limited-edition cabernet franc, will help make that happen­—with 100 percent of the profits supporting scholarships at Metro State. Enjoy this collectible wine featuring Rowdy the Roadrunner, Metro State’s mascot.

Metro State Rowdy Red $30 per bottle

Order today www.DenverWine.net 303-477-WINE (9463)

Wine Company

4

Metro Magazine llllllllllllllllSPRING 2011

Metro Magazine llllllllllllllll SPRING 2011

5

#1.

#2.

#3.

Historical photos: #1 (l to r) Leta Valdez and Isabel Nieto walking away from St. Cajetan’s Church on 9th St., (1940). #2 (l to r) Frank Herrera seated, Lucy Herrera on top of window, Josephine Montoya peaking through window, (Gloria Herrera-Rodriguez collection, circa, 1935). #3 Lupe Morales and Eugene Vigil married at St. Cajetan’s Church (1958). #4 Bobby Herrera, brother of Gloria Herrera-Rodriquez (1950). #5 Casa Mayan dancers at Curtis Park for Sept. 16 celebration: (l to r) first two unidentified, Alice Montoya, Magdalena Gallegos, (1952).

Metrozoic Era /// Metro State’s past, present and future

#4.

#5.

Alex Derrickson: “...a great way to reward the community...”

Honoring the Aurarian Diaspora

Theatre and Recruitment Project,” a collection of nearly 100 photographs.

Valerie Steffen: “As a family, we’re all so grateful for these scholarships.”

Coinciding with Metro State’s 45th Anniversary, campus officials, in cooperation with members of the Displaced Aurarian community, have been working to commemorate the lives and legacies of the nearly 350 families and approximately 200 businesses 6

Metro Magazine llllllllllllllllSPRING 2011

uprooted by construction of the Auraria Campus.

Among the initiatives to honor the former residents of the Westside neighborhood is “The Displaced Aurarians: Community Archive,

Spearheaded by former Metro State employee and Displaced Aurarian Magdalena Gallegos (author of the book, “Auraria Remembered”) with assistance from actor/director and Metro State affiliate faculty member Tony Garcia (himself a displaced Aurarian) and Mary M. Somerville, the Auraria Library’s university librarian/director, the collection vividly shares the story of a tight-knit, working-class community that lived, worked, worshiped and celebrated together.

“It’s so rewarding to be a part of this project and to help share the history of this community,” Somerville says.

While the project celebrates the community’s past, another looks to the future: The video, “In Search of Displaced Aurarians,” highlights the scholarship available for residents of the Westside neighborhood between 1955 and 1973 at the time the campus was built. The tri-institutional scholarship program, which involves Metro State as well the University of Colorado Denver and the Community College of Denver, also extends to the children and grandchildren of these residents.

“The scholarship has been such a blessing and relief for me and my family,” says Alex Derrickson, a 22-year-old Displaced Aurarian scholarship recipient and

criminal justice major, who hopes to someday become a criminal profiler.

“It seems like such a great way for the schools to reward the community for what happened to all of those families so long ago.”

the video. “I view this as such a great opportunity to get my education.”

Encouraged by their grandmother, Phyllis Morales-Sarricchio, Derrickson’s family has taken full advantage of the program, with several members now pursuing degrees.

The Displaced Aurarians photos are part of a larger Hispanics in Colorado collection listed in the Auraria Library catalog. To view, visit skyline.ucdenver. edu/search/t?SEARCH=latinos+hispanic s+in+Colorado.

”As a family, we’re all so thankful for the (availability of) these scholarships,” says Derrickson’s cousin, 19-year-old biology major Valerie Steffen, who appeared in

College officials say that dozens of Displaced Aurarians and their descendents have taken advantage of the scholarship.

To watch “In Search of Displaced Aurarians,” visit www.coloradowest.auraria.edu and click on the “Short Documentaries” link .

•

Metro Magazine llllllllllllllll SPRING 2011

7

7 Answers

[Leslie Petrovski]

Gustavo Arellano, author of syndicated column, “¡Ask a Mexican!,” and the 2010 Richard T. Castro Distinguished Visiting Professor at Metro State, opens up about education, immigration and what he’d ask white people

What was your college experience like?

I started at Orange Coast College, which is a community college in Costa Mesa. I majored there in film; I wanted to be a filmmaker. Then I transferred to Chapman University and got my bachelor’s there in film studies. Then I got my master’s degree from UCLA in Latin American studies with an emphasis in history, sociology and anthropology. After that I started with the OC Weekly.

What’s the most outrageous question you’ve ever answered in your column?

I don’t think you guys could publish it.

My column has attracted every possible question you can imagine. And more.

Amazingly brilliant ones. Disgustingly racist ones. Outlandish ones. Questions that I read and just crack up at the sheer absurdity of them. Some of them are triple x-rated. Some are just vile.

The one I’ll share, because it’s just so preposterous, is: “Why are Mexicans always so happy? I see Mexicans laughing all the time. They could be 15 to a truck going off to pick the fields and they’re all laughing and having a great time.”

It wasn’t a racist question. It just came out of nowhere. I never think of other people as being happy. When I read the question, I just laughed. I couldn’t stop laughing. So my response was more sarcastic than anything. I said, “Of course Mexicans are happy. Everything’s so great for us. We’re getting deported, we’re 8

Metro Magazine llllllllllllllllSPRING 2011

losing our jobs and people hate us. How can you not laugh?”

What’s the problem with Mexicans?

When you have a new population—being your neighbors, your school mates—the natural tendency of the human is to stereotype, castigate and to meet it with bewilderment.

Some people are better than others at accepting strangers, some people are pretty nasty about it. In this country we’ve always had this mentality of fear and of demonizing.

Latino immigration generally and Mexican immigration specifically are other bogeymen. Because these people are coming from our neighbor directly south of us and the U.S. has had so many problems with Mexico since its founding—we’ve had two official wars, many unofficial wars, we have the U.S. Mexico border right there and all of its issues, consistent Mexican migration and we took over what was once Mexico and had to assimilate a conquered people— the Mexican becomes this eternal bogeyman in the American mind.

What kind of impact can an institution like Metro State, which is pursuing Hispanic Serving Institution status, have on Denver’s Latino and non-Latino communities?

It creates a better avenue for Latino students to be able to get to college. To have Metro State have as a mission the

recruitment of Latino students I think is a great thing. And I think it will appeal a lot to the Latino students not just from Denver but from all across Colorado and even the United States.

It’s a great thing for Denver as well. You don’t have many of these institutions and what you will see is a flourishing of ideas. I’m sure some people will say, “Oh Metro is trying to be separatist or Metro is trying to appeal to one particular demographic.”

That’s bull. The purpose of a college is to always appeal to the best possible students imaginable, regardless of race, regardless of ethnicity. To have a college try to designate itself as a Hispanic Serving Institution, that just shows you have a college that understands the importance of a particular community and its contributions.

To use blackjack parlance, to double down on that mission statement, on those ideals, is a beautiful thing and more money will come this way, more speakers will come this way, more research will come this way, and Metro being Metro, all of the focus is going to be on Denver. A lot of the research and energy will help not just Metro State but Denver as a whole.

What advice would you give a Latino student? Would your advice be different for a non-Latino student?

My overarching advice to students is: This is your time to buckle down and study. Your only mission as a young person, from the time you enter kindergarten all the way until you get your profession or your degree, is education. Have your fun, sure. But don’t let it come at the expense of your education.

Specifically for Latinos I would say that it is of the utmost importance to tell your parents that education is important. There are so many stereotypes about Latino parents not liking education. That’s not the case. In my experience when you come from a poor family, you really can’t sacrifice any time not making money. With Latino families, the overriding concern is usually education at the expense of rent.

My dad was that way. He wanted me to be a truck driver just like him.

He thought college was a waste of our

“I consider undocumented students secular saints. I consider them the ultimate middle finger to all those bigots and no nothings who say, ‘Why can’t immigrants assimilate?

Why can’t they go to college?’”

time and money. And now my sister also has her master’s degree, my younger sister is going for her master’s degree, the youngest is in college right now. So from a dad who didn’t want his oldest to go to college, you have three college graduates with a fourth on the way.

And now he bugs me, “When are you going to get that Ph.D.? When are you going to get tenure at a university?”

My dad is about as stubborn a Mexican as you can get and if he can change, not just change his mentality about the importance of education but embrace it, anybody can.

What about undocumented students who get educations and then can’t get jobs because they are undocumented?

That has been my key cause. Of course educating people about Mexicans is always there. Fighting bigotry and racism is always going to be there. But the one issue that I have talked about a lot and actively campaigned for is passage of the DREAM Act (which would provide a conditional path to

citizenship to young people with a college degree or military service).

I consider undocumented students secular saints. I consider them the ultimate middle finger to all those bigots and no nothings who say, “Why can’t immigrants assimilate? Why can’t they go to college? Why can’t they become American?” And here you have a huge crop of students who are doing exactly that and yet we don’t want to help them become American citizens? It’s an issue of rationality. How can we as Americans not want these educated kids? The fact that people don’t want them? That to me shows the ultimate hypocrisy. You have immigrants who are doing everything you want them to do and you still don’t want to grant them citizenship? What the hell else do you want?

If I had a column called ask an old gringa, what would you ask?

I don’t have any questions really about a segment of today’s population. I guess the only question I’d have for white people in general is, why do you guys always move away from your homes

once minorities start becoming your neighbors? We’re supposed to be a democratic country, we’re supposed to be all united, yet white flight continues again and again and again. Once we had our great segregation battles, breaking all these housing covenants, all these white folks started moving away. Why? I think that’s a horrible thing.

That’s what I would ask white people, why do you move away? We’re fine living among you guys. We’re fine having you as our coworkers, as our neighbors, as our in-laws and all that.

I think it’s a sad thing. I think it says more about their fears about us and this nation than whatever possible existential threat we might pose to this country, which I would say is none.

•

Editor’s Note: The Metro State Board of Trustees and Faculty Senate have passed resolutions in support of SB126: Advancing Students for a Stronger Economy Tomorrow (ASSET) that gives undocumented students resident tuition status with certain stipulations.

Metro Magazine llllllllllllllll SPRING 2011

9

(l to r) Legally blind scrimshander Jim Stevens etches a design onto a piece of mammoth tusk; Stevens wearing his work glasses; an embellished Colorado map Stevens engraved.

these he etches an eclectic mix of both the abstract and the representational— wild beasts and portraits and maps and intricate designs.

A GLIMPSE

of a remarkable artist

In 1968, 17-year-old Jim Stevens joined the Army and shipped off to Viet Nam, where he became a patrol leader of a long-range reconnaissance team. For the next 11 years and on several continents, he placed himself in harm’s way, and for his trouble was shot several times. In 1970, he was shot in the head, where the fragment of a bullet remains. Twenty-four years later, the bit of metal in his brain struck him blind.

“I told the doctor, I already gave at the office,” he jokes now. The injury had robbed him of 98 percent of his vision,

10

Metro Magazine llllllllllllllllSPRING 2011

By Carson Reed (’83)

and left him to peer out on the world through tiny pinpricks of light.

pursuit for someone who could not see his opponent.

Along with the blindness came depression, and anger, and together they stole his life, his job, his marriage. For six years he languished, a time he describes now as “idling in neutral.”

“The first year the teacher made me sit in a corner and practice listening,” he says. “He said there was no way I could do this otherwise.”

“I was not happy,” he admits. “Life sucked.”

But he would not give up without a fight—literally. At the urging of the youngest of his five children, he took up martial arts, an unlikely hobby to begin in middle age, and an even more unlikely

An authentically American art form, scrimshaw involves making thousands of stipples that, when rubbed with ink, form outlines, features, shading and expression. It is an exacting and unforgiving medium requiring precision, steady nerves and calm patience.

And so he did. That first step back into life was the beginning of what, by any measure, has been a remarkable second act. He proudly points to the many martial arts trophies on his mantle. At the age of 52, he became the oldest person to win a regional martial arts championship,

and the only blind person, ever.

But that, too, was just a beginning. It was his martial arts teacher who suggested that nothing was out of reach for someone who had accomplished what he had, and urged him to return to art, something he loved, he says, “since I was three years old.”

Today, in a small studio in a converted garage on a quiet street in Wheat Ridge, Stevens makes art from bones. His studio is functional and cluttered, and is often visited by cats. His canvases are antlers and horns and the fossilized bones of mastodons and wooly mammoths. On

For Stevens, the work also requires both magnifying lenses, to view detail, and lenses which shrink the work down—the only way he can see it whole.

Stevens works mostly on commission, and his art is collected around the world.

Last October he was honored—twice— at the National Veterans Creative Arts Festival in Tomah, Wis. The V.A. group recognized Stevens’ outstanding artwork and also presented him with a second Special Recognition award for an artist overcoming a severe physical disability.

The awards are the latest in a long list of accomplishments. Stevens is the author of three books: “Scrimshaw Techniques,” “Advanced Scrimshaw Techniques,” and “Powderhorns: Fabrication & Decoration,” all published by Schiffer Books. He regularly teaches powderhorn decoration at the NRA Gunsmith School in Trinidad.

Stevens graduated magna cum laude from Metro State in 1988 with a double major in English and publishing and taught at University of Colorado Denver until he lost his sight in 1994.

•

See an audio slideshow of Stevens at work: www.mscd.edu/metromagazine

Metro Magazine llllllllllllllll SPRING 2011

11

student behavior

By Sara Burnett ] [

progress

A work in

Doing things differently is the bedrock to education reform say Metro State grads who are in the frontline of this contentious debate.

Denver’s Bruce Randolph School was on the verge of state takeover when a new group of administrators walked through the doors in 2005.

With a huge low-income population, rival gangs sometimes fighting it out in the hallways and test scores in the basement, Bruce Randolph had earned an “unsatisfactory” rating on school report cards two years running. One more year of similar results, and the state could shut the school down.

“That was a cloud hanging over us,” recalls 1996 Metro State graduate Cesar Cedillo, who started at Bruce Randolph in 2005 as assistant principal and became principal in 2010. “There

President Barack Obama lauded principal Cesar Cedillo’s turnaround Bruce Randolph School as a model of educational reform in his Jan. 25, 2011 State of the Union Address.

was a lot of pressure to make sure we were successful.”

The biggest challenge came from students. Carrying a book bag—much less doing well in school—wasn’t cool. They’d seen others try to turn their school around and fail, and they had no reason to believe this time would be different. Some students would look at their teachers and tell them flat out: “We’ll see how long this lasts.”

The new principal set strict rules for student behavior, insisted every teacher and dean follow them, and backed them up when they did.

Students who talked back in class or cussed at a teacher no longer were sent to the dean’s office for a talkingto and then told to return to class.

Under the new rules, such behavior bought the student an out-of-school suspension, no questions asked.

Teachers were asked to reapply for their jobs; of the more than 40 who were at Bruce Randolph the previous year, only eight returned. (Five Metro State graduates teach there now.)

The school also had a very clear and

continued on page 14

12

Metro Magazine llllllllllllllllSPRING 2011

Metro Magazine llllllllllllllll SPRING 2011

13

accountability concise curriculum, and each teacher was assigned an instructional coach to help guide lesson planning and instruction. Every teacher—whether language arts, math or physical education—had quarterly reviews.

Administrators met frequently with a team of teachers and instructional coaches to discuss school-wide progress and issues of concern.

Eventually the students came around, Cedillo says. So did the test scores.

In 2007, Bruce Randolph became the first school in DPS to receive autonomy from union and district regulations regarding hiring, time in school and budgeting. Last spring— the first graduation year for students under the new leadership of the now 6th-12th grade school—97 percent of Bruce Randolph seniors graduated.

This year’s graduating class is on track to hit the same numbers.

The Bruce Randolph story is one of the brightest spots in Colorado education reform in recent years—proof, many say, that doing things differently gets results.

Yet true statewide reform remains either elusive or a work in progress, depending on whom you ask. While Colorado has moved forward with an ambitious agenda over the past few years, some legislation has been divisive. And the state’s two failed attempts to win federal education dollars through the Obama administration’s competitive Race to the Top grant program—coupled with an ongoing budget crisis—likely mean reform will move more slowly than its architects would like.

Meanwhile, the state’s latest School Performance Framework, its newest school accountability system, showed one-third of Colorado schools need improvement.

14

Metro Magazine llllllllllllllllSPRING 2011

“I think people realize we cannot continue to do what we’ve done in the past,” says 1978 Metro State graduate Frank DeAngelis, principal at Littleton’s Columbine High School, “because the results are just not there.”

be at the table to shape the efforts and that those involved be flexible enough to make changes as needed.

Colorado’s reform plan

Some observers believe the lack of buy-in from the state’s largest teachers’ union on the 2010 Educator Effectiveness Act (also known as Senate Bill 191) helped sink Colorado’s chances at $175 million in Race to the Top funds. The law, which links student achievement to teacher evaluations, was opposed by the Colorado Education Association and the overwhelming majority of local unions.

Colorado’s recent reform efforts have been largely focused on aligning standards from preschool through college, collecting solid data on student, school and district performance and using that data to measure effectiveness of educators and programs.

Legislation has been intended to build on previous bills, from creating a system in 2007 to better measure achievement to a 2010 bill that uses those measures, in part, to evaluate educators. (See page 15 for more information on recent legislation.)

“This is really about building an infrastructure,” says Esther Rodriguez, principal investigator/director of the Center for Urban Education at Metro State. “None of these individual policies and actions can work in isolation. They’re all reliant on each other in order to be effective and to ensure we have a system that works for all children across the state.”

It’s still too early to tell how well any of these efforts will work, because many of the initiatives are still being created and implemented, Rodriguez says.

But she stressed it will be critical over the next few years that a wide range of stakeholders—from policy makers and researchers to teachers, administrators, school boards, parents, the community and higher education—

“For these initiatives to be successful, there has to be buy-in,” Rodriguez adds.

First-year teacher Cassie Green teaches ninth grade English at Jefferson High School in Edgewater, a low-income school with a large population of English-as-asecond-language students. While she understands the need for accountability, she doesn’t think it should be based so heavily on standardized test scores.

“It’s scary to know that your job could be connected to how much a kid learns who is 15 years old, in the middle of puberty, doesn’t want to listen to any adult and is going through all these social and emotional changes,” says Green, who graduated from Metro State in 2009.

“I understand we need accountability.

Do I think accountability should come from standardized test scores? No. That’s a snapshot from that one day.”

For many educators, the biggest stumbling block to improving schools is money—or the lack of it.

o d a r o l o C in m r o f e R E d u cat io n ral Assembly approved by the Gene s rt fo ef rm fo re y ke A lo ok at year s: an d go ve rn or in re cent

2007:

ck a system to better tra l (HB 07-1048) create d Bil t time. en r sm ove ses As cts t tri en dis ud , schools an d Long itu dinal St nts de stu al du ivi ind of mic growth an d calculate the aca de

The most recent Education Week report, Quality Counts 2010, ranked Colorado 37th in the nation for school finance, which tracks eight measures of equity and spending commonly used in the school finance field.

Because the data were based on 2007 numbers, it does not reflect the impact of the recession.

Gov. John Hickenlooper’s proposed 2011-12 budget, presented in February 2011, decreases funds for K-12 by $375 million.

2008:

tricts to gain waivers allowed schools an d dis 0) -13 nt 08 (SB t Ac ols nded to improve stu de Innovation Scho ining agreements. Inte rga ba e tiv mic lec de col d aca an fro m state laws y an d flexibility in greater school autonom outcomes by supporting -making. an d operational decision classroo m or SB 08-212) aligned K P4 (CA s Kid for n Pla d established Colorado Achievement preschool to college an m fro ts tes nt me ess ass cess as Colorado’s content standards an d dary an d workforce suc readiness for postsecon stu dents. overarching goal for all

2009:

“We have great schools and great Dropout Prevention Bil districts in Colorado, but all l (HB 09-1243) create districts are struggling with not d the Office of Drop out Prevention an d Student Re-eng having enough money to educate agement.

Ed uc at ion Ac co untability Act (SB the way they want to because of 09-163) aligned repo performance infor ma rting of state, district what’s happening at the state level tion an d create d Scho an d scho ol olV iew , a web-base d portal for and the local level,” says Courtney an d educators to acce th e public ss all pu bli cally reporte d data Smith, a former high school social about state, district an d scho ol pe rfo rm ance an d characteris studies teacher and 1996 teacher tics.

Educator Identifier Bil licensure graduate of Metro State l (HB 09-1065) create d a system to identify who now sits on the executive board the attributes of eff ective teachers an d of the Douglas County Federation principals. of Teachers.

In Douglas County, the state’s third-largest school district, teachers are no longer receiving even cost-of-living salary increases.

Smith recently visited a freshman English class with 40 students and a Spanish class with 41. Her son’s first grade class had 30 students until the school added another section.

“I don’t think anybody can argue with thinking having that many kids is not optimal,” Smith says. continued on page 16

2010:

s, cil, a gro up of educator tor Effectiveness Co un uca Ed a ng ati for cre es er lin ide ord Executive recom mend gu an d parents that will school board members n system. tio lua eva high-quality educator uired Colorado Dept. of eness Bill (SB 10 -36) req tiv ec Eff m gra Pro ion of post-secon dary Preparat ort on the effectiveness rep a op vel de to n tio Educa grams. teacher preparation pro

Educator Effectivene ss Act (SB 10 -191) re quires that ever y Co educator receive an lorado annual evaluation ba se d at least 50 perce growth of their stu de nt on academic nts. Evaluations will be used to infor m hir co mpensation, tenure ing, an d other key decision s.

infrastructure

— Sara Burnett

Metro Magazine llllllllllllllll SPRING 2011

15

teacher evaluations parents

academic expectations At Columbine High School, DeAngelis says his budget for 2010-11 is about $250,000 less than it was in 2002.

Students now are using some textbooks that are more than seven years old, because the school can’t afford to replace them.

“With inflation and things of that nature, it’s almost impossible,” DeAngelis says.

Yet DeAngelis understands many lawmakers’ position on K-12 funding, particularly given these difficult economic times.

“More money does not necessarily correlate with student achievement,” he says. “You have to look at programs that are research-based and effective.

If you continue to pour money into a program and you’re not seeing results, you really have to revisit that.”

What’s missing?

DOE grant to help College form School of Education Metro State has been awarded a $1.8 million grant to establish a framework for the formation of a School of Education.

“As one of the top producers of teachers in Colorado, this change from the Teacher Education Department to a School of Education will allow the College to respond to market demands while better addressing student needs,” says Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Vicki Golich.

The five-year grant from the “Strengthening Institutions” program of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education will also help the College to expand its capacity to serve low-income students through academic support services.

Dean of the School of Professional Studies Sandra Haynes, who is currently on a one-year American Council on Education Fellowship at Colorado State University, says, “The prominent position of Metro State’s Teacher Education Program in the state as the largest urban-based source of teachers calls for significant academic restructuring in support of this role.”

Metro Magazine llllllllllllllllSPRING 2011

Through its Urban Teacher Partnership, the CUE works with Denver Public Schools to place Metro State teacher education students in schools for field experiences as well as student teaching. At Lake Middle School, for example, Metro State students and faculty worked with Mi Casa Family Resource Center, which has a space inside the school, to help improve math and science test scores through Mi Casa’s after-school program.

DeAngelis says there needs to be a discussion about whether “one size fits all.” In most metro-area high schools, students are expected to complete a certain number of credits over four years in order to graduate.

“Does that system work for every student? We have students here who could probably earn those credits in three years. We have some could take five years,” DeAngelis says. “The needs are different, but the way the system is set up now, every student is expected to earn those credits at the same speed. Education needs to be differentiated.”

Smith says she believes the decision about what works best should be left up to individual districts and schools and should be created with input from teachers.

“They have to say, ‘This is what would work in my classroom with my group of kids,’” Smith says.

Back at Bruce Randolph, Cedillo acknowledges that different communities and different schools need different things. Yet he believes that the “meat and potatoes” of reform at Bruce Randolph—high academic expectations, accountability and consistency— can be duplicated anywhere, as long as school and district leaders are willing to stick their necks out. “ No doubt about it,” Cedillo says. “It’s not rocket science.

It’s just hard work and making sure all your systems that need to be put in place are in place and well oiled. That’s it.

There’s no magic to it.”

Meanwhile, the list of notable visitors who’ve come to Bruce Randolph to laud and learn from its progress grows longer, from U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to a stop by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Even President Barack Obama lauded the school in his 2011 State of the Union address.

Cedillo and his students are unfazed by the attention, he says. They are focused on other things—like where the students want to go to college and why, and what it will take to get there.

Once in a while, one of those recent graduates calls Cedillo from college, just to chat.

college k-12 funding

In the grant’s first year, Metro State will look at best practices among similar schools. Subsequent years will be spent determining the most efficient allocation of resources and personnel.

16

What could Colorado do to see better results? Rodriguez points to one of the fundamental components of Metro State’s Center for Urban Education (CUE)—bringing the resources of an entire community together with the school to help students from preschool through college age and giving teachers the ability to solve some of the problems that now seem to be outside their control, such as lack of parental involvement or students getting into trouble after school.

Teachers work with kids to create their own video games. The students have a place to go after school and without even realizing it, as they storyboard their games, they are working on literacy, as well as math, science and technology skills.

Another program, at Colfax Elementary, pairs Metro State students with the preschool to put on a science fair for 4-year-olds.

The kids’ parents are invited and are given projects to work on at home.

Whether the topic is bugs, the weather or plant growth, parents are learning how to engage with their children on “homework.” And Metro State students gain experience on how to work with parents.

“It’s a great feeling,” Cedillo says.

Metro Magazine llllllllllllllll SPRING 2011

•

17

Then and now: (l to r) Bill and Sue (Parrino) Hester, Frank and Susan (Skorupa) Mullen, Jeremy and Katy (Johnson) Havens.

“I met my MATE at Metro State” When you go to college, sometimes you get more than you bargained for. Sure, you expect to end up with a good education, new friends and exciting experiences. But every now and then, if luck lands on your side, you find true love.

It all starts innocently enough, maybe the first day of a new class or a late night at the library where a passing glance lasts a little longer than normal— where a look of interest shifts subtly to an inviting smile.

Here you’ll meet couples who’ll share those first moments, and who helped put the “met” in Metro State. Those who, as fate would have it, stumbled upon that special essence that brings a rich breadth to life: love.

Yes, more than flowers bloom on the campus. Love springs up, too.

Denver

Bill Hester (’67, electronics tech, associate degree) and Sue Parrino Hester (’70, humanties, associate degree)

Long before Facebook, eHarmony and Match.com, Bill Hester and Sue Parrino met each other the old fashioned way: face to face, in the library.

That’s how it worked back then, when Lyndon B. Johnson lived in the White House, when gas hovered around 25¢ a gallon and when Metro State was still a baby, 1967.

A mutual friend thought the two would hit it off and set them up to meet in the library that was then in the Forum Building, on the third floor.

18

Metro Magazine llllllllllllllllSPRING 2011

“I was definitely attracted at first sight—her big mysterious eyes, sexy ’60s style hair-do, great legs. You get the idea,” Bill says.

He must have been smitten. He continued to pursue her even though she already had a boyfriend, and not just any boyfriend, a state champion wrestler.

“Actually I was a bit scared and cautious,” Bill admits.

Sue, too, was enamored, even though she says he wore “the dorky hornedrimmed glasses” of the 60s. “But when he took them off, I was astonished… he had the biggest, most incredible brown eyes I’d ever seen.”

So they kept dating, dressing up and hitting the hot spots for live music around Denver at the time: Ebbet’s Field in Brooks Towers downtown and the old Mon-Vue Village on west Alameda where the Queen City Jazz Band often played. (Both places are long gone now.)

“We were underage at the time but were always able to get mixed drinks without being carded,” Bill says.

Sue recalls another of their early dates: “He took me to lunch at a cafe in Larimer Square and somehow he got onto the topic of growing old, and I thought, ‘I could grow old with Bill.’”

And that’s exactly what has happened.

This June, they’ll celebrate their 43rd wedding anniversary.

“It’s gone by like a flash and it’s been wonderful,” Bill says.

Reno, Nevada

Frank Mullen (’79, journalism) Susan Skorupa Mullen (’84, journalism)

If you ever visit Frank and Susan Mullen during the holidays, ask them which ornament on their Christmas tree holds the note.

Don’t worry. They’ll know exactly what you’re talking about.

The note goes back to Christmas Eve, 1985. That’s when Susan Skorupa left a Post-it note on Frank’s desk (they worked together at the Rocky Mountain Business Journal), suggesting they get together for dinner if he didn’t have other plans.

“I made sure I didn’t have other plans,” Frank says.

The only place open was the Satire Lounge on Colfax, so that’s where they ate Mexican food and talked.

Frank, no doubt a romantic, saved the note.

“It lives inside a hollow Christmas ornament and it’s on our tree every year,” he says. “We usually take it out and read it on Christmas Eve, when we always go out to dinner, although not at the Satire.”

A fun little love story that began at Metro State, even though Frank had already graduated a year before they met on campus. Turns out, they can thank their former journalism professor, Greg Pearson. Pearson, who died in 1989, often invited journalists to talk to his students, and Frank was one of his favorites.

By Doug McPherson

Susan, a student in the class, took notice.

“I thought he was smart and funny,” she says. “Greg had always said, ‘Damn that Frank Mullen. He’s the best damn journalist I ever taught!’ All these years later, I still believe Greg was right,” Susan says.

Frank admits he didn’t remember Susan when he spoke to her class, but he does remember her when he visited the campus a few weeks later for an alumni luncheon where Susan read a poem.

“That’s when I remember first seeing Susan, she was on stage, and I was immediately attracted to her.”

Just four months later Susan joined Frank at the Rocky Mountain Business Journal.

“At first when we worked together, I liked her more and more, but was pretty shy about it,” Frank says. “One day I made a desk-side Caesar salad, wooden bowl, raw egg and all, using her desk as the prep table at lunchtime. Her workspace smelled like anchovies for the rest of the week, so I think she thought I was nuts.”

Frank explains he and Susan were both nontraditional students.

“Susan had worked in florist shops and I was a high school dropout who’d been a laborer, truck driver and a restaurant cook,” he says. “We both dreamed of being writers. And that’s how we’ve made our living for 25 years together, thanks to Greg and Metro.”

Denver

Jeremy Havens (’02, art) and Katy Johnson Havens (’02, art)

Art major Jeremy Havens was so down on his luck with women that he actually reminded himself he was going to “just go and not think about women” before attending the opening night of an art show at the Emmanuel Gallery on the Auraria Campus in March of 2001.

“I’d really been going through a dry spell on the dating front and thought if I just didn’t try to meet anyone that night, I’d feel better,” Jeremy says. “Looking back at it, that’s really funny now.”

Funny because he did indeed meet a special girl that night. Katy Johnson was an art major, too; her collage (Polaroids of a plate of spaghetti on the floor) had won a jury prize. And Jeremy’s painting (a kind of paint-by-numbers-style tree) had earned honorable mention.

The stage, or should we say canvas, was set.

“I remember seeing her piece and thinking it was really good,” Jeremy says. “So I found her and told her what I thought, that she really deserved the prize and the recognition.”

She responded in kind saying she liked his painting and had even taken special notice when it was being hung for the show. “When I dropped off my work I noticed his painting and thought it was amazing,” Katy says.

The conversation felt good, Jeremy says.

“It was an easy back and forth. We just hit it off very quickly.” continued on page 20

Metro Magazine llllllllllllllll SPRING 2011

19

Then and now: (l to r) Derrick and Veronica (Sepsey) Pope and Jim and JoAnn (Sninchak) Saccomano.

For Katy, it was Jeremy’s smile that kept the moment alive. “I loved his smile, he just kept on smiling at me, and his big brown eyes really went well with his smile,” she says.

After that first encounter the two separated for a little while during the show.

“She had her family there and she was busy and running all around the place,” Jeremy says. “But before I left, I made sure I talked to her again. And that worked out pretty good because I got her phone number.”

Westminster

Derrick Pope (’02, journalism) and Veronica Sepsey Pope (’02, journalism) You’d think that especially in a psychology of communications class, a guy could find the right line to flatter a girl. Well, not always. In fact, Derrick Pope just about blew his chance right out of the gate.

“We were in the class, it was 1999 and she was completely annoyed with me,” Derrick says. “Rightfully so since I kept telling her she looked like this go-go dancer at a club and she thought I was calling her a stripper.”

Veronica says he was “very intent on getting me to stop being so uptight and of course began apologizing profusely.”

It worked. And Veronica eventually warmed to him.

“He was cute but such a dork. I mean that in the nicest way,” she says. “I had made it a point to get through college as fast as I could. I didn’t notice anything other than homework, tests and grades.

But I noticed he’d made a point to sit next to me. And geez, those blue eyes.”

“Veronica has an amazing smile and it was one of the first things I noticed about her, a big warm smile and incredibly bright eyes,” Derrick says.

When asked what he got from Metro State, Derrick pauses, then says, “I got a lot of great things from Metro, but the most important thing was Veronica.

College is as much about who you meet as what you learn.”

Denver

Jim Saccomano (’70, history, speech) and JoAnn Sninchak Saccomano (’80, history) You could say Jim Saccomano was bowled over the first time he saw JoAnn Sninchak.

Nevertheless, Derrick kept at her. “She was just ridiculously cute and I was totally drawn to her,” he says. “She was sitting with another girl in our class and I made it a point to sit right by them.”

“She was in the class before mine; I saw her and just watched her,” he says. “It’s hard to explain; you see body language, the clothing and how a person interacts

Metro Magazine llllllllllllllllSPRING 2011

Despite that potent first impression, he didn’t actually introduce himself until months later, the following April, when they shared a literature class together.

They both sat in the front row.

“I noticed her plenty, sitting across from me,” Jim says. “And then one day I just went up to her and introduced myself and told her my name.”

The attraction only grew stronger.

Veronica explains how she took it. “I think I was probably the only 20-yearold on the planet without a fake ID, so I didn’t really understand the difference between a go-go dancer and the other kind of dancer,” she says. “I didn’t so much appreciate the unintentional implication that I was a stripper, and I began to ignore him.”

20

with other people. It sounds silly, but it’s true, I thought when I saw her that this girl looks like the kind of girl I would marry.”

He’d just started at Metro State, a wide-eyed freshman in the fall of 1966 taking his mandatory physical education class, bowling.

JoAnn was equally taken. “I thought he was cute, very cute and smart,” JoAnn says.

But Jim, well, he could never be accused of impulsiveness. He waited two full years, April 1969, before he called to ask her to a movie.

One recipe for love: Meet, let simmer two years. Then call for a movie.

Jim explains he waited two years to call for two reasons: First, he was young, only 17 years old as a freshman. And two, his focus was on school. “I didn’t see anything wrong with letting some time go by.”

When he finally did make the call, he was backed with an unwavering certainty: “By the time I called her I was sure that I was going to marry her.”

His instinct was spot on. They married just one year later (yes, in April, 1970).

Jim ponders his life with JoAnn, and then says, “It’s been 40 years now and it’s been great.”

•

W

Hearing, reading and then doing Learning outside the classroom benefits students, businesses By Vonalda Utterback (’92) With the unemployment rate hovering around 9.6 percent, looking for work in this economy, particularly as a recent graduate, can be daunting.

One possible solution? Classes that blend classroom theory with handson action give graduates a valuable leg up in the job market and create a win-win for both the students and the organizations they help.

Although not easy to come by while a fulltime student, relevant work experience can make an employer sit up and take notice. The good news is a number of Metro State classes provide a seamless way to combine class credit with guided on-the-job experience.

“As we learn tried-and-true concepts in the classroom, we are applying those concepts immediately to a real business,” says senior Kathryn Moberg, a student in Professor Johannes Snyman’s Strategic Management course—the capstone for all Metro State business majors. “We’re hearing,

reading and then doing. It’s a neat way for us to learn the material and benefit a local small business at the same time.”

Now in its third year, Strategic Management is unique in that students become official consultants through the Denver Metro Small Business Development Center (SBDC), staffing the center’s student consulting program. From car washes to restaurants and computer retailers, all businesses that apply for the program are screened and must comply with SBDC requirements.

Under the watchful eye of Snyman and Tameka Montgomery, SBDC’s executive director, two classes (day and evening) work in small teams, one business per team. The students develop “very detailed and extensive” continued on page 22

Metro Magazine llllllllllllllll SPRING 2011

21

Darrin C. Duber-Smith’s Open for Business class has given students the hands-on entrepreneurial experience necessary to launch their own ventures.

strategic management plans for up to 14 area businesses per semester, explains Montgomery, culminating in a formal presentation to the client at SBDC offices. In addition to valuable experience, the students gain a realistic view of what it’s like to be a business owner, to encounter challenges and work through them, she adds.

As with all Metro State courses of this nature, services are provided at no charge, also giving local businesses a leg up in this difficult economy.

“The students provide tremendous benefit to the business,” says Snyman, himself a former small business owner. He estimates the value at anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000 for the completed report and strategic analysis, which can run 150 to 200 pages long.

Christen Roberts, co-owner of Lockbox Marketing Group, Inc., an integrated internet marketing firm in Denver, participated in the Metro State/SBDC student consulting program last year and was “very pleased with the student feedback and ideas.”

“It was a mutually beneficial relationship,” Roberts says. “We were pleased to also help the students, answer their questions and give them a realistic perspective on what it is like to run a small business.” In the end, Roberts, a 2002 Metro State grad with a bachelor of fine arts degree, says the experience helped her and her business partner better understand the status of their business and how best to move forward.

Open for business and ready to market Yet another popular hands-on course is Visiting Assistant Professor of Marketing Darrin C. Duber-Smith’s

22

Metro Magazine llllllllllllllllSPRING 2011

recently revived Open For Business elective for marketing majors and a requirement for all senior marketing minors. Since 2008, students in Duber-Smith’s class have consulted with and developed marketing plans for about 30 diverse organizations, including medical clinics, video services, publishers, ski areas and nonprofit associations.

“The students can add this experience to their résumé with confidence,” says Duber-Smith, who, in addition to teaching part-time, has owned Green Marketing, Inc., a full-service marketing strategy and brand development firm, since 2000. “They are true consultants to the businesses they serve. They receive references, contacts and great on-the-job training. Often this one experience can make the difference between being hired or not.”

In true carpe diem fashion, senior marketing major Rand Lemarinel, who took the Open For Business course last summer, recently opened his own business, providing marketing services for online businesses. “The class was great for me,” he says. “It’s important to get real-world experience and actually utilize the skills you’ve been taught. The class really inspired me and cultivated my entrepreneurial spirit. I opened my business with a partner right after the semester ended, and it’s been very successful.”

As the second half of the winning combination, Duber-Smith says he finds the business owners are quite pleased with the process and the end result. Sylvia Salcedo Rojas, a licensed acupuncturist who owns the Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Clinic in Denver, is one very happy small business owner.

“Working with the students was wonderful,” Rojas says of the experience. “They were very professional. They gave me so many useful tips and ideas, including setting me up with a patient database program that I would not have thought of on my own. And now I could not live without this system. It has revolutionized my practice. I am very grateful.”

Designing in the community The hearing, reading and then doing mantra isn’t confined to business majors. Communication Design Coordinator and Associate Professor Lisa Abendroth also encourages her students to think beyond the four walls of the classroom and forge partnerships with community nonprofits.

“Community-driven design and service-learning outreach are fundamental to what we teach,” she says.

“The class was great for me. It’s important to get real-world experience and actually utilize the skills you’ve been taught. The class really inspired me and cultivated my entrepreneurial spirit. I opened my business with a partner right after the semester ended, and it’s been very successful.”

In fact, several courses within the communication design concentration do just that, including an ongoing collaboration with Platte Forum’s ArtLab, an internship program for underserved high school youth. For the past two summers senior art major Garret Wieronski, along with five other Metro State art majors, have volunteered to mentor 16 students from ArtLab. “This past summer we partnered with Design Ignites Change and worked with the ArtLab students to create an interactive exhibit filled with the students’ ‘products,’ based on the theme of ‘life lessons,’” says Wieronski.

“This project gave these students a voice. It was the students’ ideas—as mentors, we facilitated and helped with the technical aspects.

“I learned so much about group work, like how you come together under one roof and reach consensus.

Getting ‘outside’ and working in the community really helps with perspective. The average student doesn’t get this experience. You would never see these types of projects in design school.”

In the Spirit of Woody Guthrie, yet another communication design course created last spring to intersect with the 2010 Biennial of the Americas event in Denver in July, had nine students collaborating with Denver’s Swallow Hill Music Association on an extensive installation celebrating the work of Woody Guthrie.

“The students were great to work with—they were super-involved in the project,” recalls Tom Scharf, executive

director for Swallow Hill Music. “The most impressive thing, however, was to see how they evolved in their learning.

It was nice to watch them apply the relevance of Woody’s message to today’s political and social landscape.

I believe the experience impacted the students’ learning in a positive way and helped them understand an important artist that many of them hadn’t heard of before.”

“The other benefit is that the student volunteers helped add a dimension to our presentation of Woody Fest that we didn’t have the time or the resources for,” Scharf says. “Woody was about community, and our collaboration with the students was in that spirit.”

The opportunity for real-world training, giving back to the community and adding that all important ‘experience’ level to one’s résumé, is a winning combination that clearly empowers Metro State students and readies them for a life beyond the classroom.

“In my opinion, experiential learning is the most enduring and meaningful learning that there is,” adds Scharf.

“It augments ‘book learning’ and ‘classroom learning’ in a way that makes it fun and unforgettable.”

•

Communication Design Coordinator Lisa Abendroth inspires her students to do art for work’s sake by collaborating with local nonprofits.

Similar to Snyman’s Strategic Management course, students in Open For Business present the client with a written strategic marketing plan in addition to a 45-minute classroom PowerPoint presentation. Along the way, however, reports Duber-Smith, the students spend countless hours in research, interviews with the client, initial recommendations and revisions.

“This is all part of the process,” he explains. “Together the client and the students then set measurable objectives and determine a budget.”

Metro Magazine llllllllllllllll FALL 2011

23

Alumni Times /// Alumni News and Events Alumni Times

Metro State History Mystery While we’re still celebrating our 45th Anniversary, we’re looking ahead to our 50th knowing that Metro State is a treasure-trove of history, memories and great stories.

Hard as we’ve tried over the years to document the wins, losses, institutional achievements and individual triumphs, some have slipped through the cracks and crevices of time.

Become part of recording the Metro State missing history as we move toward our Golden Anniversary. Here’s how you can help: • Name that alum! Identify the photos featured here. We’ve recently unearthed a cache of Metro State memories and would like to attach names to faces. If

you know who’s who, please e-mail us at Alumni@mscd.edu.

• View and tag other photos from the Metro State History Mystery at flickr.com/photos/metrostatealumni.

• Post your own photos at Facebook. com/MetroStateAlumni and include a story about the picture.

• Contribute to the institutional memory collection to be housed in the new Student Success Building.

Send any Metro State-related photos, stories or memorabilia you may have to Metropolitan State College of Denver, Office of Alumni Relations, Campus Box 11, PO Box 173362, Denver, CO 80217 or better yet visit us at the Alumni House, 1059 Ninth St. Park.

The materials will not only become part of a permanent collection but also an evolving exhibit at the Alumni House.

(Want your items returned? We will happily scan, save and return them safely to you.) .

•

ASK AN ALUM From doormats to ducks...

Organic gardening tips for transcending weeds, bugs and sucky soil By Lynn Smith WEEDS, as you know, can grow to county-fair winners without water, sunshine or nutrients. They defy bugs, prosper in “sucky soil” (aptly named by my teenaged neighbor), and despite digging them out by their roots, they come back in 48 hours—stronger, thicker and bringing hundreds of their offspring with them. And because this is an organic garden, poisoning is not allowed. The answer? Doormats!

All vegetation—even bind weed, the long, graceful ivy-like wolf in sheep’s clothing that winds its pretty white flowers around your plants and chokes the life out of them—will totally rot under your dog’s old rug in a matter of days. The aesthetics of multi-colored, ratty pieces of carpet, rugs and mats distributed throughout your garden can be easily remedied by spreading a few bags of natural bark over the top.

BUGS. Get two ducks for every 100 feet of garden and allow them to nibble their way through your plants like happy assembly-line workers! They will rid your garden of bugs while fertilizing your ground as they eat and work. Now that’s organic gardening! (I’ve not personally tried this, but it was a great PBS special.)

In the event you find ducks difficult to work with, you can:

1. plant green onions throughout your garden

2. keep your leaves from drying out as bugs love munching on crispy leaves, or 3. plant your leafy veggies next to places where zillions of bees hang out (like lavender plants). The collards and kale that I planted next to bees could have been centerfolds for Western Gardener, while the same plants growing in

bee-less areas of the garden were chewed ragged.

SOIL. The very soil settlers cursed when they came to Colorado l50 years ago, remains intact in my yard. (I suspect it would analyze at 60 percent clay, 35 percent concrete, 5 percent dust and sand.) After 33 years with this soil and probably $33,000 worth of perennials that never made it past the second year, I’m passing along two Great Truths:

1. Choose drought-resistant plants capable of growing on the floor of the Arizona desert, i.e. California poppies, Apache plumes, Arizona pines, rhubarb, collards, green onions, kale, stones, stickers, etc.

2. Think container gardens. The grape tomato “starter” I planted in an l8” wide by 12” deep container, produced nine times as many tomatoes as the same “starter” I planted in the ground right next to it!

•

From my pile of organic claycrete to yours—happy gardening! .

Lynn Smith (’04, public administration) owns Kate’s at 35th Avenue Organic Restaurant and Events Center.

24

Metro Magazine llllllllllllllllSPRING 2011

Metro Magazine llllllllllllllll SPRING 2011

25

Alumni Times /// Alumni News and Events

YOUR METRO STATE ALUMNI REL ATIONS STAFF: Alumni Times

Jastorff: “I love making a difference on campus and I love making connections between people.”

Mark Jastorff Director of Alumni Relations and Executive Director of the Alumni Association 303.352.7207 mjastorf@mscd.edu

Janell Lindsey

Meghan Hartvigson (’10)

Lizzy Scully

Gini Mennenga

Director of Special Initiatives for Alumni Relations and Enrollment Services 303.556.6344 lindseja@mscd.edu

Alumni Engagement Coordinator 303.556.4076 mhartvig@mscd.edu

Social Engagement Manager 303.556.5158 escully@mscd.edu

Interim Administrative Assistant 303.556.8320 vmille17@mscd.edu

Mailing Address: Office of Alumni Relations • Campus Box 11 • P.O. Box 173362 • Denver, CO 80217-3362 Campus Location: 1059 Ninth Street Park • Phone: 303.556.8320 Visit us on the Web: www.mscd.edu/alumni

Strengthening career connections for alumni tops new alumni director’s list

By Julie Lancaster

A

tall man with the voice of a radio announcer, Metro State’s new director of alumni relations grew up on a college campus and has spent more than 25 years working at colleges. Immersing himself in student life is one of his main hobbies.

“I grew up in the Black Hills of South Dakota,” says Mark Jastorff. “My dad was an administrator at Black Hills State for a long, long time. So…concerts, ball games, plays—that’s what I actually do as my down time.”

Although Metro State offers plenty of student activities and its percentage of traditional-aged students is growing, Auraria is still a commuter campus—a far cry from the traditional campuses Jastorff has known before.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in mass communications and speech from Black Hills State University in South Dakota and then worked at Dickinson State University in North Dakota and Lake Superior State University in Michigan in various aspects of student life and institutional advancement. Lake State didn’t have an alumni program; he started one. Most recently he directed the alumni program at the University of Northern Iowa (Cedar Falls, Ia.).

“I love making a difference on campus and I love making connections between people,” Jastorff says. “One of the biggest kicks in the whole world is when you can do some event that brings people together who haven’t seen each other for five, 10, 15, 20 or 30 years, and they run into each other—the emotion and the buzz that comes off of that.”

Jastorff’s previous acquaintance with Denver consists of road trips during college. He and his buddies would occasionally 26

Metro Magazine llllllllllllllllSPRING 2011

make the six-hour drive from Spearfish, S.D., visit a McDonald’s, turn around and drive home. Now that he lives here, Jastorff is “acclimating to the traffic.” He and his wife Kari are empty nesters; she is still back in Iowa, so they’re facing 12-hour commutes when they’re able to get together. Consequently, he hasn’t yet had a chance to explore Denver or the mountains.

“But I knew what I was getting,” he says. “I knew I’d find extremely friendly people here and I knew what I was walking into at Metro State—how we kind of scratch and claw our way to success instead of just expect it. That fits my personality, too.”

Jastorff did indeed once dream of a radio career. He has done radio play-by-play for college basketball and football and would love to find a way to get the Roadrunners on the radio.

Noting that Metro State has a “hellaciously good” athletic program but low attendance, he’d also like to see that change.

His new position carries two titles: director of the College’s Office of Alumni Relations and executive director of the Metro State Alumni Association, a separate nonprofit organization. Over the coming years and months, he says the Alumni Office will place a heavy emphasis on providing career advice, programs and services for alumni in partnership with the Career Services Office.

“You’ll start seeing the Alumni Office and Metro alums being able to engage at virtually every level at Metro State and in Denver,” he says. “Whether that’s coming back to campus to serve on panels or advisory boards or in the neighborhoods for volunteer opportunities, we plan to wave that flag early and often.”

•

Metro State Alumni Association 2010-11 Board of Directors President Jim Garrison (’80, Economics)

SAVE THE DATE! March 15-16: Grad Fair, St Cajetan’s, Auraria Campus

VICE PRESIDENT Cassandra Johnson (’04, Management) SECRETARY Victoria Hannu (’84, Computer and Management Science)

March 31: Groundbreaking for the Hotel and Hospitality Learning Center

TREASURER Judy George (’01, Business Management) PAST PRESIDENT and BOARD OF TRUSTEES REPRESENTATIVE Eric Peterson (’99, Marketing)

April 6: Annual Scholarship Dinner

Foundation Board Representative Rob Morrill (’97, Political Science) Derek Anguilm (’00, Finance) /// Scott Applegate (’96, Finance) /// Piper Billups, (’99, Marketing)

SPRING 2011 EVENTS

Check www.mscd.edu/alumni/events for the most up-to-date details on these and other events and activities.

April 21: Institute for Women’s Studies and Services, Outstanding Women’s Awards

April TBD: Athletics Scholarship Dinner April TBD: Alumni gathering in Chicago April TBD: Alumni gathering in New Orleans May 15: Spring Commencement – Alumni volunteers needed

www.facebook.com/MetroStateAlumni

/// David Diaz (’97, Mathematics) /// Marisol Enriquez (’99, Hospitality, Meeting and Travel Administration) /// Danyette Hardin (’07, Management) /// Michelle LeBoo, Administrator Representative (’95, History) /// Brad McQueen (’95, Accounting) /// RC Montoya (’93, Technical Communication) /// Chuck Moss (’88, Finance) /// Anne O’Neill (’07, Hospitality, Tourism and Events Management) /// Daniel Parks (’96, Political Science) /// Wendy Petersen (’89, Hospitality, Meeting and Travel Administration) /// Ron Ramirez (’94, Hospitality, Meeting and Travel Administration) /// Judy Shafer (’95/97, English) /// John Silva, (’91, Finance) /// Sterling “Noah” Steingraeber (’08, Marketing) /// Metza Templeton, Classified Staff Representative (’07, Management) /// Associate Professor of Human Services Antonio Ledesma, (’72, English), Faculty Representative /// SGA President Sammantha O’Brien, Student Representative.

•

NEW! Official college ring collection The official Metro State ring collection, designed for and by alumni, is now available. Be the first to purchase this unique and lasting symbol of your lifelong connection to your alma mater. Part of the proceeds from ring sales benefit Metro State Alumni Association programs and student scholarships.

If you would like to book a consultation, contact Shelley McClellan from Jostens at 303-921-6662. Or order your ring today at www.mscd.edu/alumni.

Metro Magazine llllllllllllllll SPRING 2011

27

CLASS ACTS

James Inhelder (’75, biology) is a mortgage broker and owner of Inhelder Investments in Aurora, Colo.

Paul G. Moore (’79, history) is a teacher at Peak to Peak Charter School in Lafayette, Colo.

Ali Nekumanesh (‘79, political science) is president of Eagles Management Consulting in Clovis, Calif. and owner of the Colorado Grill Restaurants in Fresno, Calif.

John Noce (’76, accounting) retired after 31 years as the chief financial officer and senior vice president of a company in the mass transit industry in St. Louis, Mo. Michelle Elizabeth Penland (’76, psychology) retired as a clinical psychologist in 2007 after working 26 years at a regional mental health center for the state of North Dakota.

Troy Abplanalp (’92, professional pilot) is a floatplane bush pilot for King Salmon in Rapids Camp Lodge in Alaska.

Almeta Corbin (’96, political science) works for the Caring for Colorado Foundation and lives in Denver.

Elias A. Diggins (’99, criminal justice) is a chief with the Denver Sheriff Department and is overseeing the demolition and renovation of the Denver County jail, the largest construction project on the campus in almost 60 years.

Derrick E. Haynes (’97, human services) is director of student academic success for Metro State and earned his Ph.D. in organizational performance and change in August 2010.

Mary O’Halloran (’96, business) is a contract administrator for the City of Lakewood, Colo. focusing on construction-related bids and contracts.

Chanda Turnbull (’96, psychology) is an associate human resources professional for the City and County of Denver/Civil Service Commission. She holds master’s degrees in counseling psychology and industrial/organizational psychology.

Jenifer Adams (’09, criminal justice) is an administrative assistant for the State of Colorado.

Salim Azzam (’10, marketing) is CEO of Azzam Realty, LLC in Lakewood, Colo.

Doug Barnes (’09, computer information systems) is a computer information technician for the State of Colorado, Judicial Government division.

Matthew C. Mahutga (’00, individualized degree program) is an assistant professor of sociology for the University of California at Riverside. He finished his Ph.D. in sociology in 2008.

Clint McCaskill (’10, marketing) is the director of client relations for ZenMango in Centennial, Colo..

Kim Middaugh (’10, elementary education) is a substitute teacher for Boulder Valley and Jeffco Public Schools in Colorado.

Heather Neyer (’01, English) is president of Neyer Assisted Living, Inc. in Centennial.

Bola R. Owolabi (’01, engineering technology) is a software engineer for the Cerner Corporation, a health care information technology systems company, in Kansas City, Mo. He received a master’s of science in software engineering from Regis University in 2007.

Connie Gentry Paeglow (’07, human services) is a nephrology social worker for Fresenius Medical Care in Denver. She holds a master’s of social work and has served as president of the Denver Branch of the American Association of University Women.

Tiffany Pendleton (’09, behavioral science) is a residence hall director for the University of Northern Colorado and expects to graduate in May with a master’s degree in higher education and student affairs. She hopes to eventually work with veterans who are returning to college.

Alaine Pope (’10, finance) is the operations manager for North American Co-Pack in Westminster, Colo.

Carol Reagan (’00, health care management) is a program manager at the University of Colorado at Denver.

Rick Sallee (’07, accounting) is an auditor for the State of Colorado’s unemployment insurance program.

Dennis Sargent (‘07, health care management) is an allied health instructor for Anthem College in Aurora.

Louis Tor Sarkisian (’04, finance) is an agent for Frontier Airlines in Denver.

Andrea Shane (’07, criminal justice) is a fraud analyst for Nordstrom FSB and lives in Parker.

Tara Stiner (’07, history) is a family outreach specialist for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado and lives in Denver.

Meghan Stinton (’07, journalism/public relations) is the marketing and communications manager for the Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce.

Andrew Tebsherani (’07, finance) is a contracts negotiator for Lockheed Martin in Palmdale, Calif. He is a former pilot for Big Sky Airlines of Billings, Mont. and Republic Airlines of Columbus, Ohio.

Zeru A Tige (’09, business management) is a security guard with the Wackenhut Corporation in Aurora.

Troy Bratton (’04, political science) is a staff attorney and bill drafter for the Office of Legislative Legal Services for the Colorado General Assembly.

Christopher S. Tillman (’09, management) is president and founder of Rocky Mountain Terror, a “haunted attraction” company in Denver.

Loretta Chavez (’01, computer management science) is a business intelligence manager for Teletech in Englewood, Colo.

Elisa M. Varela (’10, speech) is a family liaison specialist for Aurora (Colo.)

Public Schools.

Ryan Floyd (’01, communications) is senior vice president at Unique Properties, LLC in Denver.

Levi Lamfers (’03, business management) is a divisional vice president for AXA Advisors, LLC, a financial services company in Franklin, Tenn. He earned a master’s in business administration from Mississippi State University in May 2010.

Sarah Holzer (’10, English) is a sixth grade literacy teacher for Aurora (Colo.) Public Schools.

28

Adam Hulbert (’10, human performance and sport) is an account executive for the Denver Outlaws, a professional lacrosse team. He started as an intern with the organization while still in school.

Dillon Bohlender (’08, environmental science) is a science teacher in the Adams 12 School District in Thornton, Colo.

Jason S. Cordova (’10, aviation technology) works with Staff Pro in Denver.

Metro Magazine llllllllllllllllSPRING 2011

Alumni Times

Class Acts highlights the latest news from Metro State alumni.

To submit your information for publication, go to www.mscd.edu/alumni and click on Update Your Info.

CLASS ACTS

Troy S. Walker (’08, political science) is finishing his second year at the University of Denver, Sturm College of Law. He also performs stand-up comedy around Denver including at ComedyWorks and the Denver Improv.

Kayleigh Wellers (’10, human development) works for Sempera and lives in Parker.

Metro Magazine Magazine llllllllllllllll llllllllllllllll SPRING SPRING 2011 2011 Metro

29 29

The Rowdy Report /// Roadrunner Sports Metro state athletics corporate sponsors

A tale of family bonds, a shift in dreams and community

By Roxanne Hawn Alaina Larson, a Metro State physical education major, sees softball as a haven and calls it her “No. 1 priority.”

More than an outlet for health and stress relief, softball gives Larson a place where success comes easily.

was the place for Alaina to go to school.

Then, it was really exciting that they were starting a new softball program,” he says. “Plus, they really have one of the best physical education programs in the state. So, everything fit.”

When a complication at birth temporarily robbed her brain of oxygen, it took some of her short-term memory with it and made school a challenge.

“Growing up, school was really hard,” Larson says. “My academics were just ‘there.’ I had to work twice as hard as everybody else. Softball was my getaway from school.”

Larson didn’t really want to be far from home anyway. “I was like, ‘Oh, perfect!

I only live seven minutes from Metro,’” she says of getting the news that Jen Fisher was now Metro State’s head coach for its newly reinstituted softball team. “I’m very close to my family, so it was hard to leave.”

The hitting streak At the same time, softball gave Larson a ticket to college. She fielded several recruitment offers thanks to playing the game of her life at a showcase tournament, where college coaches scout for new talent. Metro State’s then future softball coach Jen Fisher sat in the stands the day that Larson went on a hitting streak—two over the fence, a triple, two doubles.

Even after Larson tore an ACL at the next tournament game, Fisher told her, “I’m looking for an athlete like you.”

Auraria Campus Bookstore Braun’s Bar and Grill CLICK’S COPY CENTER Coach America Hilton garden inn Hotel VQ @ Mile High STUDENT & AUXILIARY SERVICES Boulder running company Inn at auraria Phill Foster & Company Sportline The UPS Store

30

Metro Magazine llllllllllllllllSPRING 2011

The two kept in contact as Larson finished high school in Wheat Ridge, continuing to play on that injured knee.

The legacy You might think the fact that Larson’s parents (high school sweethearts) both graduated from Metro State swayed her decision, but her mom—Josie Larson (’81, recreation)—says, “We let her make her own choice.”

Her dad—Eric Larson (’80, physical education), Metro State baseball Hall of Famer and longtime baseball coach— explains the confluence of factors that led to her decision. “After finding out about the Access Center (for Disability Accommodations and Adaptive Technology), hands down we knew that

A Metro State legacy: (l to r) Eric Larson (‘80), Josie Larson (‘81) and daughter Alaina.

The Slump With a bright future on the horizon, Larson didn’t realize how much she’d need this support system when things began going horribly wrong.

Larson red-shirted her first year, both to continue her knee rehabilitation after surgery and concentrate on her GPA. She still trained with the team and helped by videotaping games. She readied herself to play the next year, but when one of her legs swelled up during practice, the team’s trainers recognized it as a possible blood clot and got her to a doctor pronto.

That medical scare resulted in another red-shirt year.

Larson geared up for the next softball season, only to collapse on the field during practice from a seizure. She has had more seizures since then, and it looks very much like her competitive career in fast-pitch softball is over.

“It was really huge that it was taken from me,” she says of the loss.

“The hard part for her was that it was a pillar in her life and that pillar was taken away,” her dad says. “She has replaced that with coaching and with playing slow-pitch softball. She plays recreational softball, and she coached the junior varsity team at Wheat Ridge High School in the fall, so that really

helped direct her energy, still doing softball-related activities.”

The Community As Larson finishes her college career with an eye toward teaching elementary school P.E. for Denver Public Schools (DPS), she continues to work for Metro State Athletics and supports the softball team.

Her dad, who is a physical education coordinator for DPS, after 22 years teaching, hosts a Physical Education and Dance Summer Institute at Metro State.

“I think the best part of this is that we invite the physical education majors to

attend,” he says. “They get to connect with teachers from all over the state, other coordinators, the national teachers of the year from all over the country.

It’s just a nice connection. It’s a nice partnership we have with Metro.”

Larson’s younger brother attends baseball camps on campus and gets a kick from pointing out to other players that his dad is in the Athletics Hall of Fame. He also performed at the King Center with his high school chamber chorale.

walking around the campus, because when I went there, there was a main street that went through the middle,” says Josie Larson, who works as a substitute in Jefferson County.

The Larson family’s Metro State legacy, however, is about more than teaching and sport. The College provides a broader platform for real life. It gave Larson a different kind of field, upon which she learned some tough lessons.

“Since birth,” Larson says, “I’ve had one medical issue after another, but with my family, we’ve gotten through it.”

•

The family attends basketball games and softball games, of course. “I love

Metro Magazine llllllllllllllll SPRING 2011

31

Don’t Blink /// A Last Look

Igniting a new tradition In what is hoped will become a Homecoming tradition, Roadrunners rallied around a bonfire set on campus Feb. 17 under the watchful eye of the Denver Fire Department. Plans for 2012 Homecoming—bonfire included—are already underway for the week of Feb. 6.

32

Metro Magazine llllllllllllllllSPRING 2011

An MBA for Metro

StateGrads

Take the next step

Thomas Gaschler-FHSU & Dr. John Cochran, Dean, Metro State School of Business

Convenient, Flexible, Online Learn on your schedule, not ours. Choose to study online, or on the Fort Hays State campus in Hays, Kansas. Full-time or part-time ... again, your choice! Same great program, same great faculty teaching relevant, up-to-date courses using the latest in user-friendly course delivery methods.

Your Program ... Your Specialty.

One size does not fit all. That was true when you were a student at Metro State, and it’s true of MBA programs. Choose a concentration that will help you achieve your professional goals.

Market Competitive Tuition*

• Finance • Health Care Management • Human Resource Management • Information Assurance • International Business • Leadership Studies • Management Information Systems • Tourism and Hospitality Management • Health and Human Performance/ Sports Management • General MBA Studies

* Total estimated program tuition; current as of Spring 2011 ** Based on CO in-state residency; non-resident est. tuition $42,456

No Business Degree? No Problem.

The Metro State/FHSU partnership offers you a seamless transition into the MBA progam. Begin your MBA while completing the business foundation courses. You do not have to wait!

Fast Track Admissions Requirements • A bachelor’s degree in Business from Metro State College • • Completion of all required admission materials • • Score a 990 or above with the MBA admissions formula: • 200 x undergraduate G.P.A + Official GMAT score = 990 or above

www.fhsu.edu/mba • Contact: Lisa Treece: 785.628.5696 • lltreece@fhsu.edu

METROPOLITAN STATE COLLEGE OF DENVER CAMPUS BOX 14 P.O. BOX 173362 DENVER, CO 80217-3362

Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage

PAID Permit 2965 Denver, Colo.

“I’m really excited about the new Master’s of Social Work Program. It’s affordable, which means I won’t have to move out of Denver to continue my education.”

Now you can take your Metro State bachelor’s degree one step further.

Metro State offers master’s degrees in: • Professional Accountancy • Teacher Education (MAT) • Social Work Access graduate-level urban education at its finest and most affordable.

For more information, visit . . .

www.mscd.edu/masters Kaylee Jeffrey Senior social work major

Where success begins with you