News

Covering the demand

In the face of supply shortages this year, communities of makers, including experts from Metropolitan State University of Denver, stepped up to fabricate 3D-printed personal protective equipment for Colorado health care workers.

In the University’s Industrial Design Department, Engineering Department and Advanced Manufacturing Sciences Institute, all housed in the Aerospace and Engineering Sciences Building, teams of 3D-printing experts produced hundreds of face shields for workers around the state, including nurses at Children’s Hospital Colorado and clinicians at the Health Center at Auraria.

“I’m so happy to be able to use our acumen to help people out. I felt so bad for many weeks, and then one night I thought, ‘Screw it, I’m going to change this,’” said Jinseup (Ted) Shin, chair and professor in MSU Denver’s Department of Industrial Design. “It would be a shame if we could not use (expertise), and I’d feel guilty if I ignored it.”

Dozens of MSU Denver employees, students and alumni have been actively involved in 3D-printing PPE on campus, at home or at their businesses.

Many are contributing through a statewide movement called Make4Covid, an organization that is gathering supplies and policy expertise to provide solutions to the medicalequipment shortage. Make4Covid has delivered more than 80,000 pieces of equipment to health care workers, with the help of more than 2,200 volunteers.

NEWS

JOHN ARNOLD

Dreamers keep dreaming

Recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program celebrated a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June that said the Trump administration’s effort to rescind DACA was “arbitrary and capricious” and thus invalid. The ruling upheld deportation protections for 700,000 Dreamers who benefit from the program’s work authorizations.

The Supreme Court sent the case back to the Department of Homeland Security, leaving the door open for the administration to try to end the DACA program again.

The ruling is “one less thing to worry about, for now,” said Eunice Callejas Solano, a Metropolitan State University of Denver student and DACA recipient, who is on track to graduate with a degree in communication studies in December.

Her family immigrated to the U.S. when she was 2 years old, escaping poverty in Mexico, to rebuild their lives from scratch in a new country. Her parents sacrificed meals so she and her brother could eat, and they all lived together in a one-bedroom apartment.

“I always knew my whole purpose of doing all of this was to finish my education because my parents couldn’t get past

elementary school,” she said. “My goal is to be able to make all of the sacrifices worth it.” There are close to 400 undocumented students at MSU Denver, which educates more undocumented students than any other college or university in the state. “My goal is The University was also the first institution in Colorado to announce and offer a special tuition to be able to make all of rate for undocumented students in June 2012 — about three weeks before the Obama administration announced the DACA program. the sacrifices Following the court’s decision this year, MSU Denver leaders reacted with messages of worth it.” support and a recommitment to advocacy for DACA students. Marissa Molina, an MSU Denver trustee and a DACA recipient herself, penned an op-ed for Newsweek, calling on Congress to act on permanent legislative protections for Dreamers. “My message to students is for us to rest and find these moments of joy in this victory right now,” she said, “but to not lose sight of what our battle ahead looks like and really recommit ourselves to continue to fight equally as hard — and maybe even harder — so we can gain protections for all those who are still left behind.”

Commitment to change

How would you describe the protests and national conversation around racial justice that followed the death of George Floyd in May?

Depending on who’s doing the talking, you’ll likely get vastly different answers and explanations. In an information environment optimized for conflict and devoid of systemic context, we’ve been led to the point of questioning whose voices — or lives — matter.

That dynamic is what Katia Campbell, Ph.D., sees as a core element of understanding how we got here — and a possible way forward.

“We’ve become so polarized, and it’s only gotten worse in recent years,” said the Metropolitan State University of Denver associate professor of communication studies and Faculty Senate president. “Our media culture has enabled echo chambers; we pick and choose to take what we want to hear. Dialogue has a role to play in helping us get back to a sense of shared reality.”

This was the context for “How Do We Talk About What’s Going On?,” a livestream panel that kicked off a summer series of conversations on race as part of the University’s Dialogues Program. Campbell moderated the online event, which featured prominent Black scholars discussing current affairs in the wake of police killings of Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others.

The series is just one step in the University’s efforts to engage in the anti-racism work necessary to create systemic change, said MSU Denver President Janine Davidson, Ph.D.

“This can be the moment that propels us to social change,” she said.

The MSU Denver Board of Trustees also spoke out in June, announcing a resolution outlining its commitment to racial justice and equity.

“We will lead conversations centered around racial justice in the context of higher education throughout Colorado,” the resolution states.

“Our media culture has enabled echo chambers; we pick and choose to take what we want to hear.”

Roadrunner earns Fulbright Scholarship

Spencer Shute never considered himself an ideal student. He struggled in high school and into his early college days at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Things changed, however, when the biology major decided to “hack” his brain to build healthy work habits that would help him succeed.

And succeed he has. Shute, an MSU Denver biology graduate, is on his way to earning a master’s degree in cognitive neuroscience at Radboud University in the Netherlands, thanks in part to a Fulbright Scholarship.

Shute will study neural structure and function, focusing on the relationship among the brain, environment and behaviors. He believes research into the neurophysiology of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and associated disorders will lead to important discoveries in childhood development, education and looming issues of mental health.

“My ultimate ambition in life is to develop an understanding of the mind,” Shute said. “This ambition has inspired me to travel and understand the perspectives of others.”

AMANDA SCHWENGEL