February 19, 2004

Contact:
Jennifer Meriam, Director
(954) 262-5355
Mara Kiffin, Coordinator
(954) 262-5350
Elizabeth Ninomiya, Writer
(954) 262-5309

Tobacco Industry Whistleblower Jeffrey Wigand And Former Cbs Producer Lowell Bergman Are Guests At Nova Southeastern University Forums February 25

Wigand and Bergman to Discuss 60 Minutes Controversy as 40 th Anniversary Approaches of the United States Surgeon General Announcing that Cigarette Smoking is a Cause of Cancer and Other Serious Diseases

FORT LAUDERDALE , FL — Famed tobacco industry whistleblower Jeffrey Wigand and former CBS 60 Minute s producer Lowell Bergman will be the featured speakers at the NSU Forums on Feb. 25.

About 10 years ago, Jeffrey Wigand – then a former vice president of research at the nation's third largest tobacco company – met 60 Minutes producer Lowell Bergman for the television show's segment on deaths caused by cigarette fires. Yet that wasn't the only story that Wigand would assist Bergman on, as he, himself, had one to tell – how the Brown & Williamson Tobacco Company was trying to find ways to enhance the addictive qualities of nicotine. What transpired later became the subject of the movie “The Insider.”

Ben Mulvey, Nova Southeastern University professor, takes you back in time with Wigand and Bergman, discussing not only the events that led to the eventual editing – and future airing – of Bergman's 60 Minutes segment, but also the 40 th anniversary of the United States surgeon general announcing that cigarette smoking is a cause of cancer and other serious diseases.

The event will begin at 9:30 a.m. in the Rose and Alfred Miniaci Performing Arts Center on NSU's main campus. The speakers will present from 9:30-10:10 a.m., followed by a question-and-answer session from 10:10-10:30 a.m. For more information, please call (954) 262-2125, or visit www.nova.edu/osep/2004_forums.html.