Florida & National Magnet Laboratory Launch Statewide Tobacco Prevention Campaign

November 6, 1998

Contact:
Janet Patten, (850) 644-9651

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The State of Florida will kick off a new tobacco prevention program on Tuesday, November 10, 1998, at 10:00 a.m. (EST) with a "Virtual Town Hall" that will link students in 1,475 elementary schools to a panel of experts at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Tallahassee. The statewide satellite telecast will launch SMART U, a new multimedia program for 4th and 5th grade students that aims to reduce the use of tobacco products. The program will culminate with the distribution in March, 1999, of new science curriculum materials to all elementary schools in Florida.

The Virtual Town Hall will include an exciting and informative 45-minute panel discussion with experts and an interactive question-and-answer session conducted over the Internet (http://scienceu.fsu.edu). The program will be broadcast over ITV (Instructional TV) to elementary schools and to student groups at the Museum of Arts & Sciences (Daytona Beach), the Orlando Science Center, the Science Center of Pinellas County (St Petersburg), and the ODYSSEY Science Center (Tallahassee). In addition, the program will be simulcasted over the Internet (Real Video http://www.wfsu.org/maglab.ram; Real Audio http://www.wfsu.org/maglaba.ram).

SMART U is being produced by the NHMFL's Center for Integrating Research and Learning in partnership with Training Solutions Interactive, Inc. Funding for it comes from the state's tobacco settlement earlier this year. SMART U is a multidisciplinary, multisensory curriculum that will encourage scientific literacy and enable students to explore and understand (1) the harmful effects of tobacco on their bodies through scientific analysis and investigation, (2) strategies for handling peer pressure to use tobacco, and (3) the role that advertising plays in promoting addiction.