Facing the challenges of global competition was the topic of discussion when a prominent Republican leader came to Ames.

Newt Gingrich, former U.S. Speaker of the House, spoke to an audience of more than 200 people Friday about globalization and how the United States must adapt to compete in the worldwide marketplace.

“Americans can learn and adjust as fast as any society in the world, but we have to understand what we are doing,” he said.

“We have to have leadership that says, ‘We are going to roll up our sleeves and compete.'”

Incentives must be created for students to enter high-tech fields, Gingrich said.

“We have to have a very fundamental reform of math and science on a base level, because we are not producing enough Americans capable of competing in the global center,” he said.

The rapid growth of the Indian and Chinese economies will become increasingly competitive with the United States, Gingrich said.

“For the first time in modern history, we are going to have two first-class competitors, and they should be,” he said.

The contemporary notion of education will drastically change, Gingrich said.

“All of our current planning models are inadequate for the acceptance of new knowledge and the acceptance of a new rate of change. Our whole concept education will change,” he said.

“You will never have a final degree. You have to think about continuous learning for your entire lifetime.”

Gingrich, who represented Georgia in the House of Representatives from 1978 to 1999, visited Iowa to give a guest lecture to a class and speak at a Republican fundraiser Saturday night in Des Moines.

For now, Gingrich said he would focus on stimulating ideas in globalization, health care and reforming governmental inefficiency.

“I want to do everything I can in Iowa and New Hampshire to shape the debate, so that whether you are a Democrat or Republican, you have to ask questions about how we are going to be competitive in the 21st century,” he said.

Gingrich also said conflicts in the Middle East will continue for 70 to 100 years.

“We have to start strategically minimizing the importance of the Persian Gulf,” he said.

“It is an enormous weakness for us to be financing the Arabians with the high price of oil.”

When he was asked about a run for the presidency in 2008, Gingrich skirted around the issue, leaving it ambiguous as to whether he would make a bid, but did not deny consideration.

“I think there are far too many problems to focus on personal ambition in 2006,” he said.

“I will probably make a decision sometime in the fall of 2007.”

Regarding the nationwide debate about immigration reform, Gingrich said he favors legal immigration.

“I am very pro-legal immigration. I am also very pro-controlling the borders,” he said.

“This is not about illegal immigrants. This is about American businesses who break the law and it’s about American government that has for 20 years refused to enforce the law.”

James Bernard, distinguished professor for the virtual reality applications center, teaches Mechanical Engineering 484x: Technology, Globalization and Culture, the class in which Gingrich gave a guest lecture.

Gingrich asked for no compensation from the university to come and speak, Bernard said.