Press Releases:
October 2007
October 25, 2007
METROPOLITAN STATE COLLEGE of DENVER
FAA awards air traffic controller program to Metro State
DENVER – The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has awarded Metropolitan State College of Denver the highly coveted Air Traffic Controller Collegiate Training Initiative (AT-CTI) designation for its Aviation and Aerospace Science Department. Only select institutions are awarded such status. Metro State is one of eight colleges and universities chosen out of 19 colleges that had qualified for the program. The FAA announced Metro State's selection on Oct. 16.
"This AT-CTI designation underscores our role as an urban land grant college," says Metro State President Stephen Jordan. "At Metro State, we empower our students to achieve success through a blend of theory and applied learning that is relevant, high quality and diverse."
The FAA works with colleges and universities all over the country as part of the AT-CTI, which designates an institution as an FAA partner. The FAA gives preferential hiring to students who successfully complete the degree program.
"This designation will catapult our Metro State graduates into the field quickly. Our students will be eligible to bypass the first five weeks of initial qualification training at the FAA Academy because of their college education," says Jeff Forrest, associate professor and chair of the Department of Aviation and Aerospace Science. "Between our required professional certification and coursework, we have one of the more rigorous academic programs in the country."
The FAA estimates that over the next 10 years, it will need more than 17,000 air traffic controllers (ATC) to replace those who are retiring. As mandatory retirement is part of the profession, many of the ATCs hired in the early 1980s are coming up on retirement.
The AT-CTI designation positions Metro State to help fill this void, according to adjunct professor Andy Farr who teaches Fundamentals of Air Traffic Control in the Department of Aviation and Aerospace Science. "With this designation, Metro State students will have a direct career path. Regionally, Metro State is the only facility that can do this."
Metro State's Aviation and Aerospace Science program is the fifth largest in the country and offers the only four-year degree in the state. For information about the program at Metro State, visit http://www.mscd.edu/~aviation/ or call 303- 556-2983.
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October 22, 2007
METROPOLITAN STATE COLLEGE of DENVER
Metro State ranked first in state for ethnically diverse faculty
DENVER – The Sept. 28 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education cited Metropolitan State College of Denver as having the most ethnically diverse faculty in Colorado.
Using data for Fall 2005, the Chronicle listed figures on race and ethnicity for full-time faculty at more than 1,300 colleges and universities throughout the country that have more than 100 full-time faculty members. Metro State led Colorado institutions with 20 percent of its faculty being of color. The next highest percentage, 19 percent, was at Adams State, followed by Colorado College and CSU-Pueblo, both at 17 percent. CU-Boulder and UCDHSC were both listed as having 13 percent faculty of color.
The Chronicle survey is conducted in odd-numbered years, so the next report will be conducted and issued in 2007. Since President Jordan's stated initiative in 2005 to increase the ethnic diversity of the faculty, Metro State has increased its percentage of faculty of color significantly in recent years. At the Welcome Back event in early September, Jordan said that in the past two years the College had hired 88 full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty, a 28 percent increase, and noted that "Since 2004, tenured and tenure-track faculty of color have grown by 58 percent, with African American faculty increasing by 92 percent and Latino faculty by 64 percent."
October 15, 2007
METROPOLITAN STATE COLLEGE of DENVER
Anthropologists in the war zone?
Metro State prof available to talk about the U.S. military’s new Human Terrain Team
DENVER – In a new effort by the American military to be more sensitive to local concerns in Afghanistan, groups of anthropologists called Human Terrain Teams have been placed with American combat units in Afghanistan and Iraq. Since February 2007, the experimental Pentagon program has assigned anthropologists and other social scientists to provide cultural and political knowledge of the region.
"It's a modern version of the Peace Corp operating in hostile environments," says James Emery, adjunct professor of anthropology at Metropolitan State College of Denver and expert on Afghan politics and the Taliban. "Human Terrain Teams provide an excellent opportunity to utilize properly trained, highly motivated applied anthropologists to enhance mutual communication and respect between American military forces and indigenous populations."
"At its core, the HTT enables U.S. military and government officials to better address the needs of the population from an emic, or local perspective," says Emery, whose latest article (a three-part series) titled "Opium, Afghanistan's Other War" is running in the current issue of the monthly www.worldandi.com. "Their emphasis is on practical applications that will help enable Afghans, who have suffered through 29 years of continual conflict, to finally experience peace and prosperity for themselves and their children."
Emery is an anthropologist and journalist who has reported on regional conflicts and the drug trade for more than 20 years, including five years overseas. He's made several trips into Afghanistan, Myanmar, and other drug-producing and transit countries. He conducts ethnographic research with intravenous drug users, narcotics traffickers, and insurgent groups. Emery lectures on Afghan and Arab culture and the use of applied anthropological techniques in the occupation of Afghanistan, global terrorism, and the war on drugs.
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Metro State is a fully accredited, four-year institution, serving more than 21,000 students. It has the second-largest undergraduate enrollment in Colorado and is one of the largest four-year public colleges in the nation. Metro State enrolls the highest number of students of color among four-year colleges in the state. It boasts 60,000 alumni, 90 percent of whom stay in Colorado after graduation. Visit Metro State at www.mscd.edu.
October 11, 2007
METROPOLITAN STATE COLLEGE of DENVER
Los Lobos to rock benefit concert for Metro State
DENVER – Three-time Grammy Award-winning artists Los Lobos will perform songs from their latest CD, "The Town and The City" at Paramount Theatre at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 24 in support of Metropolitan State College of Denver. This is the third annual benefit concert for Metro State. Previous performers include The Gipsy Kings and Brian Wilson, former lead singer for the Beach Boys.
"Los Lobos has had a huge following for more than three decades," says Dave Alden, Metro State's assistant athletic director for external affairs. "We are excited to continue bringing in such legendary performers for the community to enjoy, while also raising funds for annual and endowed scholarships for our students."
Since its inception in 1973, Los Lobos has evolved into a respected artistic group known for their conscience-raising songs and thought provoking lyrics. Their new CD speaks to immigration, a hot topic nationwide. It is told in the first person, with each song serving as an episodic step in a rough journey that is in your face at times, comforting and nostalgic at others.
Locally, their performance will strike a strong note for Metro State, which holds the second largest graduation rate for Latino students in the state. "It's great that Los Lobos may be appealing for certain audiences," says Alden, who also serves as Metro State's head tennis coach. "But, we strive to have activities that everyone on our campus and the area communities can appreciate. In that respect, Los Lobos is a perfect fit. They are big."
Though some are familiar with the older songs of Los Lobos, others are acquainted with the group's latest work. The HBO series "The Sopranos" featured "The Valley," which is a song from their latest CD. It ran at the end of the last episode on May 6. Following the Metro State benefit concert, the group will join John Mellencamp for the first leg of his fall tour.
Tickets range from $39-$64 and are on sale now at TicketHorse, 1-866-461-6556 or visit www.tickethorse.com. Tickets can also be purchased in person at Dick's Sporting Goods Park and Dick's Sporting Goods stores. For VIP tickets and sponsor information call 303-556-8141.
Concert sponsors include MillerCoors, Wells Fargo, The Regency Auraria Student Housing, Univision, 92.1 Super Estrella and 102.3 KCUV. For more information about Los Lobos visit www.loslobos.org. For more information about the Metro State benefit concert, contact Angelia McGowan at 303-556-5133 or Dave Alden at 303-556-8141.
October 11, 2007
METROPOLITAN STATE COLLEGE of DENVER
Metro State art prof and curator thinks globally, acts locally
DENVER – The spotlight has been following curator Lisa M. Abendroth for a while now.
Last month she debuted an exhibit at the Metropolitan State College of Denver Center for Visual Art (CVA). Last week, she opened the international student version of her exhibit at the Emmanuel Gallery on campus. This week professional designers from across the country have the chance to see what she has worked two years to develop, "Substance: Diverse Practices from the Periphery."
Both exhibits reveal how design can be a dynamic force in transforming and saving lives. Objects on display range from a toothbrush that is designed to accommodate kids' manual dexterity limitations to the ceramic water filter that makes bacterially contaminated water safe for drinking and is easily made with local materials in poor countries.
"I'm interested in how design changes lives and meets unaddressed needs, not in an idealistic way but very practically," says Abendroth, associate professor and communication design coordinator at Metro State. The 39 exhibit participants from all over the globe "think of themselves not as designers per se, but as trying to address problems through innovation and technology."
Design professionals from around the country are able to view her exhibit during the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA's) "Next" Conference being held in Denver Oct. 11-14 at the Denver Convention Center. More than 2,500 designers are attending. Founded in 1914, the association is the oldest and largest membership association for design professionals engaged in the discipline, practice and culture of designing.
Abendroth's exhibits grew out of a career that includes teaching community-based design at Metro State for seven years. In those classes, her students "pick one problem to address through design, they conduct research and worked with the affected community to understand it." Today, she has brought the world into her classroom and her classroom out into the world. "The design field is evolving so quickly, the outside work helps me stay current," adds Abendroth, who will be busy this week with a host of events.
Tonight at 6 p.m., the CVA will feature exhibit participants Patricia Moore of Moore Design Associates (designs for elderly-friendly light rail systems) and Bryan Bell of Design Corps (designs for farmworker housing programs.) On Friday evening, the CVA and Emmanuel Gallery will partner with AIGA "Next" for gala receptions. It doesn't appear that the spotlight for Abendroth's work will fade anytime soon.
For more information about the professional exhibit, visit
http://www.mscd.edu/news/cva/current.htm. For the international student
exhibit, go to www.emmanuelgallery.org.
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Metro State is a fully accredited, four-year institution, serving more than 21,000 students. It has the second-largest undergraduate enrollment in Colorado and is one of the largest four-year public colleges in the nation. Metro State enrolls the highest number of students of color among four-year colleges in the state. It boasts 60,000 alumni, 90 percent of whom stay in Colorado after graduation. Visit Metro State at www.mscd.edu.
October 2, 2007
METROPOLITAN STATE COLLEGE of DENVER
Baseball historian says Rockies
wild card berth falls into the "incredible" category
DENVER – Four innings after the end of regulation play last night at Coors Field, the Colorado Rockies reversed a two-run deficit to beat the San Diego Padres 9-8 and make the National League playoffs. It will go down in the books as baseball's longest one-game tiebreaker. "Of course it was incredible," says Thomas Altherr, a Metropolitan State College of Denver history professor and baseball historian. "Anyone who witnessed the last 15 games would say that. It ranks up there with the comeback teams.
"They had a tremendous streak of good luck for a very complex sport where so many random variables can happen. So many things went right for them and wrong for the San Diego Padres this week. It almost defied statistics. The charming thing about sports is sometimes statistics just don't matter. Baseball is filled with unexpected heroes."
The Rockies will open the playoffs at Philadelphia on Wednesday in their first postseason appearance since 1995 when the Blake Street Bombers lost to Atlanta in the first round. While going on the road can be an issue for some teams, Altherr sees other challenges for the Rockies. "Sports is filled with a lot of examples of teams expending emotion to get to one level and then they are wiped out. I'm not predicting that, but it's happened. Then again, two or three weeks ago who knew they'd get this far?"
Altherr makes no predictions for the five-game series against the Phillies,
but he does offer some thoughts. "They (Philadelphia Phillies) have this odd
history. In 1964, they were going into September leading the national league
and had the historic meltdown. "September Swoon" by William C. Kashatus is a
book about how they fell apart. Philly has the image of the city that never
wins a big game. Let's hope there's a teeter-totter affect here. Rockies up,
Phillies down."
Altherr is a noted baseball historian whose "Sports in North America,"
published in 1997, won the Choice magazine Outstanding Academic Book Award. "Safe by a Mile," co-authored with baseball sage Charlie Metro, was released
in 2002.
Metro State is a fully-accredited, four-year institution, serving more than 21,000 students. It has the second-largest undergraduate enrollment in Colorado and is one of the largest four-year public colleges in the nation. Metro State enrolls the highest number of students of color among four-year colleges in the state. It boasts 60,000 alumni, 90 percent of whom stay in Colorado after graduation. Visit Metro State at www.mscd.edu.