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Like scenes from a never-ending story, where there in endless halls and huge chambers, dark robes and heavy cloaks slide, stern men in attire ready to quip and stab gather, a decorum of strained hostilities and false grins, and somewhere there, they greet the wizard of the century, the one who pauses, takes a posture,
and then sharply raises his voice and addresses the chamber, "Sire, your children are in trouble, failing in education while you are shutting doors on highly-skilled magicians from far away lands... open the gates and let the talent march in, or this land is in trouble." In quick response from the very high altar, the hooded men shout in unison, "Close the doors; they are nothing but barbarians outside the gates." Orchestral sound takes over the scene. Popcorn time.

In reality, and on a much smaller scale, this scene was replayed during one of the US Senate Committee hearings, headed by Senator Edward Kennedy, focused on "Strengthening American Competitiveness for the 21st Century", with Bill Gates as the principal witness. Chairman Gates, one of the wealthiest and most admired men of our times, has been rightfully candid on this issue, as he criticized the blockage of bright, highly-educated foreign students for seeking opportunities in the US after their graduation. The newly-implemented immigration policy has rejected both domestically-educated engineering and science graduates, and foreign professionals who seek to enter the US.

The main problem lies in American education at the high-school level, being at the lowest among the industrialized nations, which can likely result in a shortage of domestic human resources in the professional sphere. What should the US do to address and overcome this new challenge? This is what Bill Gates had to offer:

"When I reflect on the state of American competitiveness, my feeling of pride is mixed with deep anxiety. Too often, it seems we're content to live off the investments previous generations made, and that we are failing to live up to our obligation to make the investments needed to make sure the U.S. remains competitive in the future...

The U.S. cannot maintain its economic leadership unless our work-force consists of people who have the knowledge and skills needed to drive innovation.

The problem starts in our schools, with a great failure taking place in our high-schools. Consider the following facts -

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Naseem Javed, recognized as a world authority on corporate image and global name identities, is a harsh critic of casual and accidental naming. He is a dynamic speaker on corporate image and branding issues, and is also the author of Naming for Power. He founded ABC Namebank International, an image and branding consultancy over 25 years ago.
Website: www.abcnamebank.com