 | |
| |
TechnologyDaily Mobile
Immigration Lawyer Pleased Over H-1B Action;
Schumer Supports IT With Marshall Plan
For Rupal Kothari, a Washington, DC-based immigration lawyer who processes H-1B visa cases for companies and employees, the week of Sept. 25 is shaping up to be a good week. That is because the Senate has finally wrestled itself free of much of the political wrangling over legislation that would lift the ceiling on the number of H-1B visas that can be doled out to skilled foreign workers. "Companies are desperate for talent. I had one client that lost a $450 million contract because they couldn't hire enough staff to fulfill a contract," said Kothari, which is head of the Indian American Bar Association. "They need these H-1B visas." The Senate is now on track to pass H-1B visa legislation, S. 2045, that would increase to 195,000 the number of H-1B visas for skilled foreign workers. Kothari, a Pittsburgh-native who has been running her own immigration law business for two years, is also considering opening an office in India.
Last Wednesday, the day after the Senate's overwhelming vote, in support for permanent normal trade relations with China, staff from the Electronic Industries Alliance visited the offices of all 83 senators who voted for the legislation to hand them thank-you notes from the association's members. Lawmakers also got a T-shirt that said "I Helped Improve the Standard of Living of 1 Billion People and All I Got was This Lousy T-shirt."
Creating more affordable commercial space, increasing high-speed Internet access, and addressing the skilled labor force shortage, were among the top policy items outlined by Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-NY, at a New York Software Industry Association on Monday. Schumer noted that employment in the new media industry in NYC rose to 138,000 in 1999 from 27,000 in 1995 and that he was looking at ways to continue to grow the high-tech industry, known as Silicon Alley, in NYC. "According to the National Science Foundation, our nation of 275 million awarded only 857 Ph.D.s in computer science in 1999. Something must be done," he said. Schumer called for a "Marshall Plan" for education that raises standards, repairs crumbling school buildings, promotes math and science and persuades professionals to teach math and science. He also called for making college tuition tax deductible.
Former presidential candidate and Sen. Bill Bradley, D-NJ, has joined Boston-based Internet company UPromise as an adviser and will serve on the company's board of directors. UPromise is a for-profit Web site that helps families save up to pay for their children's college tuition. "Every family wants to give their children a college education — it's the ticket to the American Dream. Yet, for too many families, the cost is out of reach or requires enormous sacrifice," said Bradley in a statement. "UPromise, in partnership with America's leading corporations, will help families afford the rising cost of college. I am proud to join a company that will make such a big difference in the lives of families."
Voter.com's political directors, Democrat Craig Smith and Republican Randy Tate, said one of the biggest lessons they have learned this year is that traditional media, like television and print, didn't drive people to their Web site. After launching splashy TV ads earlier in the year, the site has found it had better luck in drawing "eyeballs" with events and talk radio. "We learned that TV doesn't drive people to the Net — remember the Super Bowl? — what drives people to the Net is the Net," said Smith, who was a former White House communications director. Many dot com's spent their entire advertising budget on commercials during the Super Bowl, only to find that the TV ads weren't enough to attract interest. Voter.com recently decided to retool its business strategy from a political portal to providing Internet political consulting services. Looking toward 2001, Voter.com plans to make money helping clients use the Internet as an overall strategy, Smith and Tate said. Voter.com's transformation led the company to lay off eleven staff soon after the Democrat convention and then to hire staff in other departments, according to Michael Bustamante, Voter.com's communications director.
On the theme of political Web sites, Silicon Alley Reporter, a daily on the business of New York City high-tech companies, reported that Savvyvoter.org and NYVote.com were launched last week. Savvyvoter is funded by the Open Society Institute, an organization founded by hedge fund billionaire George Soros. The site aims to provide detailed political information from candidates' platforms, debate issues, message boards and cocktail-conversation. NYVote.com is to provide an in-depth look at each of the city councils in 51 districts.
The General Services Administration, which houses the controversial FidNet program that is to monitor government networks for potential cyberhacking threats, has named a new chief information officer, Michael Carleton. Carleton is currently CIO for GSA's Public Building Service, will replace William Piatt who is leaving for a job with Booz, Allen and Hamilton. Piatt has been playing a central role in the creation of FirstGov.gov, a new government Web site launched last week that aims to put government services in one online location. Before GSA, Carleton was CIO at the Health and Human Services Department.
Is it spam or just warm wishes? Athletes attending the Olympic games in Sydney got a surprise from the George W. Bush for president campaign last week. The campaign sent a special greeting to the athletes who logged onto their Olympic e-mail address. They found a video e-mail congratulating athletes for their success in making it to the Olympics. "I want to congratulate you for being a member of the United States Olympic team — congratulate you for representing the greatest nation on this earth. A lot of us in Texas are pulling for you. I hope you bring home the Gold. God bless you and God bless America," the video said.
Richard L. Miller, former senior vice president for Electrolux North America in Augusta, GA, has been appointed the Education Department's principal deputy chief information officer and will lead the department's information technology division. Miller's background includes 25 years of information systems and management experience.
Scott Jeffrey, founder and president of Legalize.com, a Web site that aims to legalize marijuana, said in a press release that he collected the 3,500 signatures need to get his name on the ballot to run for Congress in the 15th District of New York. "Our generation needs to find its collective voice on issues that directly impact our lives and aspirations. (MTV's) "Choose or Lose" is not what we need. Instead of choosing among Baby Boomer politicians, we need to find our own leadership to represent our generation directly. We must take up the fight ourselves if we wish to end the marijuana arrests and prevent the censorship of our youth culture," Jeffrey said. The seat is currently held by House Ways & Means ranking member Charles Rangel, D-NY, who is expected to handily win re-election.
 | - by Bara Vaida |
NEW FEATURE
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
