One career is not enough for Ron Sykora. As a veterans certification official at Iowa State, he assists student veterans and dependents of veterans with their GI Bill benefits. It's a good fit since he's also a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, with 28 years of military experience.

Six years after its initial grant funding ended, Iowa State's colleges and the senior vice president and provost's office continue to invest in ISU ADVANCE, freeing up a handful of faculty to work part time on recruiting, retaining and promoting women and people of color in faculty posts.

Through an online self-service process, members of the public may purchase professional images of numerous campus locations.

Faculty in the School of Education are working with Ames school district students, teachers and administrators to address academic achievement gaps and other racial disparities.

A $1 million cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture will help the ISU-based Center for Food Security and Public Health prepare for future outbreaks of avian influenza.

Associate professor of industrial and manufacturing systems engineering Guiping Hu is leading a research team developing data-driven, real-time software technology to help improve factory floor operations, including manufacturing processes, logistics, safety and energy management.

• Retirement: Carol Cordell, kinesiology, Nov. 29 (2-4 p.m., 213 Forker)
• Retirement: Sandie Smith, Center for Survey Statistics and Methodology, Nov. 29 (2-4 p.m., 115 Office and Lab)

Iowa State's cross country course will host the best runners in the Midwest for an NCAA regional meet on Friday, Nov. 10. The women's 6K race begins at 10:45 a.m. and the men's 10K starts at 11:45 a.m. near the corner of Mortensen Road and Hayward Avenue. Qualifying teams and individual runners will advance to the NCAA championships next week in Louisville, Kentucky. Admission is free.

The music department's annual Band Extravaganza, featuring the Cyclone Marching Band, Wind Ensemble and Jazz Band I, is Nov. 10 (7:30 p.m., Stephens). Tickets are $10 ($5 for students) and available at the Stephens box office or through Ticketmaster.

A Nov. 13 performance by the Meskwaki Nation dancers and lecture by photographer Matika Wilbur are planned as part of Indigenous Heritage Month events. The 6 p.m. performance precedes Wilbur's 7 p.m. talk, "Changing the Way We See Native America," in the Memorial Union Great Hall.

Assistant history professor Jeremy Best tackles this question during a public lecture Nov. 14 (7 p.m., MU Sun Room). Best will discuss the ideology of white nationalist organizations, their connection to the Nazis and other 20th-century fascist organizations, and why white nationalism has had a resurgence.