Monday, March 06, 2006

MEMORANDUM

TO: Wilmington Area Media

FROM: Mimi Cunningham

DATE: March 16, 2006

RE: 20th Annual UNCW Business Week Set for March 21 and 22;
Features WorldCom Whistleblower Cynthia Cooper

As part of its 20th annual Business Week conference for students, the University of North Carolina Wilmington's Cameron School of Business will host WorldCom whistle blower Cynthia Cooper and Beth Struckell, vice president of business development for PepsiCo Sales and a UNCW alumna. Cooper's presentation will take place at 10:00 a.m., Tuesday, March 21, in Cameron Auditorium. Struckell will speak at 11:00 a.m., Wednesday, March 22, also in Cameron Auditorium.

In addition to the keynote speakers in Cameron Auditorium, more than 90 prominent representatives from business, industry, and government will present ongoing lectures throughout the two-day event in Cameron Hall classrooms. A special feature this year will be film producer Patrick Jones, who will show and discuss The Journey, a documentary that chronicles a summer road trip and the wisdom of the people met along the way, at 5 p.m., Wednesday, March 22 in Cameron Auditorium. http://www.journeyproductions.com/

Business Week is designed to expose students to the world of work and provide them with access to a variety of professionals while engaging the regional business community with the Cameron School of Business. This year's conference is supported by more than 40 student volunteers and 15 corporate sponsors. The lead sponsor for Business Week is BB&T. Business Week sessions will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, March 21, and from 8:45 a.m. to 4:40 p.m. on March 22.

Due to space availability, these events are not open to the public, but media are invited to attend. For a schedule of events and more information, please visit the Cameron School of Business Web site at www.csb.uncw.edu.

Keynote Speakers
Cynthia Cooper uncovered the largest example of corporate fraud in United States history as the former head of internal audit for WorldCom Inc. Cooper's topic will be The WorldCom Story-Navigating the Storm."

Cooper was named one of Time Magazine's 2002 Persons of the Year for her role in detecting and reporting the corporate fraud at WorldCom. She was also the 2003 recipient of the Accounting Exemplar Award, which is presented annually to an individual who has made notable contributions to professionalism and ethics in accounting practice or education. Prior to working at WorldCom, she worked in public accounting in Atlanta for PricewaterhouseCoopers and Deloitte & Touche.

Beth Struckell will speak about "Leading Change: PepsiCo - A Case Study." Struckell, who received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from UNCW in 1978 and earned her MBA from UNC Chapel Hill, has been with PepsiCo since 1983. In her role as vice president of business development, Struckell supports PepsiCo customer teams that generate 50 percent of the company's volume and 75 percent of its growth. Prior to this position, she served as senior vice president and general manager of the Vend/Food Service Division of PepsiCo for more than five years.

For more information, please contact Dana Fischetti, communications and marketing consultant, Cameron School of Business, at 910-962-7259 or fischettid@uncw.edu.

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