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Hu's Coming To Town
by Sarah Lai Stirland
President Hu Jintao, the captain of China's economic growth is coming to America this week, and everyone wants to capitalize on the communist leader's visit.
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates has a special reason to celebrate: On Monday, his CEO, Steve Ballmer, formally inked a deal with Bill Amelio, CEO of the Chinese personal-computer maker Lenovo. The deal is valued at $1.2 billion over the next year, with Lenovo agreeing to spend that amount on Microsoft Windows software.
"Microsoft commends Lenovo for recognizing the importance of intellectual property rights and the value of genuine software," Gates said in a statement. "We will continue to work with Lenovo and other industry partners to ensure that customers get the greatest value and performance from their PCs."
The finalized agreement comes after last week's trade deal concerning the Chinese government's mandate that PC makers load legal operating systems onto computers before shipping them. The nation also committed to opening government procurement policies.
Microsoft's campus in Redmond, Wash., and Gates' home in the Seattle suburb of Medina -- not the White House -- will be the first stop in the United States for Hu on Tuesday. Hu and his wife, Liu Yonqing, will attend a dinner hosted by Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire at the Gates' home. The event has a guest list of 100.
On the menu: Smoked guinea fowl salad with hazelnuts, spring radishes and Granny Smith apples for starters; a choice of beef with local Walla-Walla onions and a side of asparagus, or Alaskan halibut and spot prawns with spring vegetables, fingerling potatoes and a smoked-tomato-infused olive oil. Guests will have a choice of 2002 Leonetti Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon or 2003 Chateau Ste. Michelle Chardonnay, Canoe Ridge Estate to drink.
There will not be any choices for desert however. Hu and his guests will finish their feast with rhubarb brown-butter almond cake.
In preparation for Hu's stop in Washington D.C., meanwhile, Motion Picture Association of America Chairman and CEO Dan Glickman on Monday launched a weeklong Chinese film festival for a select few invitees. Chinese Ambassador Wen Zhong Zhou, National Geographic CEO John Fahey, Deputy Director-General of the China Film Bureau Zhang Pimin, and actress Ziyi Zhang were also on hand to say a few words at the launch.
The first Chinese movie screened at the MPAA was "House of Flying Daggers," which stars Ziyi. That screening and others this week are invitation-only.
"In honor of the visit of President Hu Jintao to our nation's capital, along with the celebration of the Chinese film industry's 100th anniversary in 2005, we thought it appropriate to provide a special forum to celebrate China's achievement in film," Glickman said in a statement. "We are pleased to partner with the National Geographic Society and the China [State Administration of Radio, Film and Television] in this endeavor."
Staff Overhaul At House Education
The House Education and the Workforce Committee has announced a trio of staff changes. Steve Forde is the committee's new communications director; Susan Ross is its director of education and human services policy; and Rich Stombres is deputy director for Chairman Howard (Buck) McKeon, R-Calif.
Forde succeeds Kevin Smith, who followed John Boehner, R-Ohio, to the majority leader's office. Ross succeeds Sally Lovejoy, who finishes her stint in the position at the end of April after 25 years on Capitol Hill. Stombres succeeds Krisann Pearce, who just left the job after nearly a decade on the committee.
Ross is returning to the committee after working for B&D Consulting as a vice president. She worked on education, health care, disability and social services while at the consulting firm. Before that, she was a budget analyst for the committee.
Stombres has been on the committee for almost 10 years and has worked on legislation relating to child and adult education, job training, and teacher quality. He also worked on the House Science Committee.
Education and the Workforce approved several bills last year that are awaiting Senate action. Forde said reauthorization of the 2002 education law known as the No Child Left Behind Act is on tap for next year, and hearings for the remainder of this year will focus on that.
FTC Loses Chief Of Staff
Over at the FTC, Chief of Staff Maryanne Kane will retire at the end of April after almost three decades at the commission. She was chief of staff for the past three.
In that role, Kane advised the chairman on everything from budget to strategic management. She also worked as a liaison between the commission and members of Congress, and helped manage and develop several big reports issued in the past few years. That included a report on competition and patent law report.
Current FTC Chairwoman Deborah Majoras has appointed attorney-adviser Brian Huseman to succeed Kane. Huseman joined the FTC in 2001 as a staff attorney in the division of marketing practices. He focused on suing Internet and telemarketing frauds while in that position.
He also performed various legislative tasks, such as analyzing proposed bills, drafting congressional testimony and meeting with Capitol Hill staffers. He became an attorney-adviser in the chairman's office in 2004, under former Chairman Timothy Muris.
Huseman declined to discuss his new job, saying through an FTC spokeswoman that he prefers to work behind the scenes.
New And Old Telecom Leaders
The Independent Telephone and Telecommunications Alliance, a trade group of mid-sized companies serving rural areas, has announced that Lisa Zaina will be its new executive director.
Zaina is the former CEO of the Universal Service Administrative Company, a nonprofit that administers federal telecom aid behalf of companies serving rural areas, low-income families, schools and libraries. She starts her new job May 1.
Zaina succeeds David Zesiger, who became a lobbyist for Embarq Communications, a Sprint-Nextel spin-off company.
The alliance's members serve more than 7 million customers. The group wants the telecom industry to continue financing the universal service fund and lawmakers to expand the base of contributors to that fund The group also supports the concept of "network neutrality," which in its view means that telecom providers must provide non-discriminatory access to video content at reasonable rates and conditions, regardless of the distribution technology used.
Elsewhere in industry, the National Cable and Telecommunications Association has elected Comcast Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts to a second term as NCTA board chairman. NCTA also announced other board changes, including new officers and a new executive committee for the next year.
The Multistate Tax Commission, meanwhile, announced that Greg Matson will start working as its deputy director beginning May 15. Matson is currently tax counsel at the Tax Executives Institute. The commission is a group of 47 state governments that coordinate to administer consistent applications of state tax laws for corporations that operate in multiple jurisdictions.
Quote Of The Week
"I'd like to first draw your attention to the composition of people present at the podium. In terms of the number of people present here, it is a 3-to-1 [ratio], and in terms of gender, it is also 3-to-1. So obviously I'm in the weak and disadvantageous position. I'll need more from your support."
-- Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi, speaking at a U.S. Commerce Department press conference on being outnumbered both in terms of her American counterparts and her gender.
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