News

On the record

Grammy-nominated cornetist, trumpeter and composer Ron Miles joined forces with legendary label Blue Note Records in October to release his latest album.

“Rainbow Sign” explores the metaphorical connections made by rainbows.

“There’s this idea of rainbows being a highway from heaven to earth, and that we can go back and forth to visit,” said Miles, musician-in-residence at Metropolitan State University of Denver. “Now, it also means inclusion and love and courage … and to meet the test to be positive, vigilant and still love in the face of negativity we constantly encounter.”

Miles composed the majority of the album in summer 2018 as his father passed away. Its nine tracks span a spectrum of emotion and compassion, from the delicately airy second single “The Rumor” to the bouncing kinetic romp “Custodian of the New,” a tribute to Miles’ father — himself a custodian.

NEWS

MSU Denver alumna Tracy Fielder analyzes a water sample near the Robert W. Hite Treatment Facility in Adams County.

Studying sewage for COVID clues

COVID-19

Front Range sewage is a source of critical data in Colorado’s fight to stop the spread of COVID-19.

This past summer, the state launched a one-year, federally funded pilot program to test sewage at Front Range wastewater treatment facilities for the coronavirus. The study is being run by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, with Metropolitan State UniversityofDenver and Colorado State University conducting laboratory testing.

While symptoms of coronavirus don’t appear for five to 14 days, those infected begin shedding it in their excrement within days of infection, said Tracy Fielder, a 2019 MSU Denver Biology graduate serving as an associate researcher on the project. By studying sewage, Fielder and her fellow biologists can collect data that provide a clearer picture of how many COVID-19 carriers are in a community.

“The whole goal is developing a system of early warnings,”

she said. “If the detected (COVID-19) signal starts to rise, we can respond by alerting officials to respond accordingly.” Fielder is working alongside Rebecca Ferrell, Ph.D., professor of biology at MSU Denver. Wastewater is collected in a 24-hour “If the detected “snapshot” from a facility and sent to labs, including one run by Ferrell. (COVID-19) signal starts to rise, we If the lab finds a big spike in the virus, researchers can notify leaders, experts and hospitals so they can prepare staff to can respond by alerting officials.” respond to a potential surge, Fielder said. Jim McQuarrie, director of comprehensive planning and innovation with the Metro Wastewater Reclamation District, who helped coordinate 16 wastewater utilities involved in the project, credited the CDPHE’s leadership and Ferrell’s advocacy to advance the project as a “grassroots stand-up.” “We’re all on the same side when protecting the public health and our environment,” he said. “And today, this kind of information is contributing to improving that in a 21st-century way.”

In safe hands

COVID-19

Metropolitan State University of Denver’s Chemistry Department and Beer Industry laboratory teamed up in the summer to manufacture, test and distribute nearly 50 gallons of hand sanitizer to be used in Auraria Campus facilities.

Andrew Bonham, Ph.D., chair of MSU Denver’s Department of Chemistry, said the University community can have confidence in the product his team cooked up.

They started by researching recommendations for hand sanitizer from reputable health organizations. To make sure the product MSU Denver chemists created met those standards, it sent the sanitizer to the MSU Denver beer program’s Quality Analysis and Quality Control Laboratory. The lab measured ethanol percentages to ensure that the hand sanitizer was effective.

Katie Strain, the lab manager, called the sanitizer “a really great, topnotch product.”

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, alcohol-based hand rub is a simple and effective way to prevent the spread of pathogens and infections. Bonham said the moment that studies came out showing that high alcohol content was effective at fighting the coronavirus, the Department of Chemistry set up space in its unused lab to manufacture the product.

“I think it shows the speed at which our faculty and staff were able to respond,” Bonham said. “In March, there was no hand sanitizer commercially, and we could pivot our labs and get that hand sanitizer produced.”

Hand sanitizer products should contain concentrations of

80% OR 75%

ETHANOL ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL

source: U.S. Pharmacopeia

“There is a difference between ‘I made hand sanitizer. I hope it works’ and ‘I did the due diligence to make it the right way and to verify it in the right way.’ ”

Introducing UndocuHub

Angelica Prisciliano understands the obstacles immigrant families face in trying to build a sustainable foundation in the United States.

Her mother brought her to Colorado Springs when she was 12 to escape the violence of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. As she pursued her education, “I believed I was alone in my journey,” Resources available Prisciliano said. on UndocuHub:

Now, Colorado’s LEGAL immigrant and undocumented HEALTH CARE populations can access the HOUSING legal, health care, housing, FINANCIAL financial, education and EDUCATION EMPLOYMENT employment information they need through a single statewide bilingual phone and digital resource: UndocuHub. The initiative launched in September and is a collaboration among Metropolitan State University of Denver, the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition and the Denver Children’s Advocacy Center.

Families “will benefit from having access to many resources that are languageaccessible and led by (immigrant) community members,” said Prisciliano, a spring 2020 MSU Denver Political Science graduate who is a community organizer with the Colorado People’s Alliance.

UndocuHub is funded by a $272,000 oneyear grant from an anonymous donor and is housed at the University, said Gregor Mieder, director of Immigrant Services at MSU Denver. It’s currently in an introductory phase and is slated to scale up by the end of 2020.

National, state and local organizations are already doing important work to provide various resources for the immigrant community, Mieder said. UndocuHub for the first time provides a single, user-friendly access point to all of it.