Greg Rohde has wasted little time in building a new staff since assuming his post late last year. The assistant secretary of commerce for communications and information and administrator for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration has named Chanda Tuck-Garfield assistant director of the Minority Telecommunications Development Program, Derrick Owens, director of interagency affairs at NTIA, and Judd Crapa as special assistant for administrative affairs.

     Deputy Secretary of Commerce Robert Mallet is leading a delegation to Latin America for a four-day conference from March 13-16. Mallet will co-host the fifth Latin American Telecommunications Summit along with Peru's Minister of Transportation, Communications and Constructions, Alberto Pandolfi. The delegation includes Greg Rohde, Federal Communications Commission Chairman William Kennard and Eric Nelson, vice president of international affairs for the Telecommunications Industry Association. The TIA is co-sponsoring the summit with the Commerce Department. Top leaders from the United States and Latin America are expected to discuss key policy issues affecting the region.

     Getting permanent normal trade relations status with China is among the Business Software Alliance's top issues for 2000, President Robert Holleyman announced at a lunch for the press last week. BSA is part of a broader high-tech alliance that has been lobbying for PNTR this year. Other top priorities for BSA include passing digital signature legislation, promoting self-industry regulation on privacy and getting more money for intellectual property law enforcement. As part of the agenda unveiling, BSA member companies demonstrated their technologies for the press, congressional staff and members. Adobe, for example, showcased a new tool that enables people to download rare books onto their computers. The company said it also includes a component for strong intellectual property protection.

     The Internet Policy Institute has rounded up some of the high-tech industry's biggest names to pen policy papers. "Briefing the President" is designed to educate the next president and other officials on high-tech issues. Upcoming authors include C. Michael Armstrong, CEO of AT&T, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-VT, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, D-VA, and Scott Charney, former chief of computer crime and intellectual property at the Justice Department. Former Netscape CEO Jim Barksdale has written the introduction, and Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates will write the conclusion. According to IPI spokeswoman Ines Lehrke, several of the authors sit on IPI's board of trustees, including Barksdale; Erich Bloch, former director of the National Science Foundation; and Vint Cerf, senior vice president of MCI WorldCom.

     Playing off of a familiar story told by Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk that says citizens would rather have their city send a real fire truck to a burning home rather than a faxed photo of one, the National League of Cities gave the mayor a plaque of a toy fire truck. Kirk uses the fire truck example to emphasize the role that local sales taxes play in supporting local services, when he argues for a simplified state and local sales tax system. He is a member of the congressionally appointed Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce, which convenes for its final meeting this month in Dallas.

     After working with Edelman PR on Microsoft matters for seven months, Michael Marinello is leaving for New York-based PR firm GCI. "While I am a native New Yorker, I will definitely miss being a full-time Washingtonian especially because I am a political junkie at heart," said Marinello. "But I am actually looking forward to the DC-NYC commute because it will allow me to be a part of both cities, which is one of the things that attracted me to GCI."

     Northpoint Technology has added Antoinette Cook Bush to its management team as executive vice president. The nascent video and data distribution company uses technology that enables multi-channel video providers to share frequencies with some satellites. Bush has been hired to manage regulatory, legislative and business matters for Northpoint. The former senior counsel to the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee currently serves on the boards of a number of organizations, including the Internet Policy Institute.

- by Jessica Smith