Category Archives: Other

GoFundMe to Award $100,000 in College Scholarships

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REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — GoFundMe, the world’s largest social fundraising platform, announced the GoFundMe Scholarship, which will give away $100,000 toward college tuition. Ten college or postgraduate students will be awarded $10,000 each to help pay for their education. To qualify for the chance to win the scholarship, an existing or newly created GoFundMe campaign must have the hashtag #GFMScholarship in the campaign description and raise money from at least ten unique donors.

Over the past several years, students, teachers, and parents are increasingly turning to GoFundMe to raise money for education expenses, including tuition. In fact, in the last two years, over $100 million has been raised on GoFundMe for education related campaigns, making it the fastest growing category on the platform. Every month, college campaigns raise more than $1.5 million on GoFundMe, with the average campaign raising nearly $2,000. In just the last 12 months, $20 million has been raised for college tuition on GoFundMe. With the average college graduate in 2016 facing $37,172 in student loan debt—up 6% from last year—the need is clear.

Keeping Kyare at Morehouse” is one recent campaign that shows how GoFundMe is making a difference for students in need of financial assistance. After his first year at Morehouse College, DC native Kyare was named the most outstanding student in his engineering program. But short-term financial difficulties nearly brought his college career to a halt, until his community helped raise over $15k in less than a month.

“We know there are countless students out there who need help with the rising costs of college,” said GoFundMe CEO Rob Solomon. “At GoFundMe, we see incredible stories every single day of communities coming together to make sure students get the education they deserve. With the GoFundMe Scholarship, we hope to make these inspiring students’ educational dreams come true.”

How Do Campaigns Qualify?
Step 1: Create a new GoFundMe campaign or update an existing campaign using the hashtag #GFMScholarship in the campaign description between September 21 and September 28.

Step 2: Also in the campaign description, tell the GoFundMe community why the student should receive a $10,000 grant for their college tuition.

Step 3: Share the campaign on social media and raise money from ten unique donors.

Campaigns are eligible for the $10,000 scholarship if they are created by or for an undergraduate or graduate student at an accredited college or university in the United States. Eligible campaigns can be created by students, family members, friends, professors, or anyone who knows a student in need. Eligible campaigns must raise money from 10 unique donors.

How Are the Scholarships Selected?
If your campaign is eligible, it will be reviewed by GoFundMe. The ten campaigns will be selected by a GoFundMe selection committee and announced in October.

About GoFundMe
Launched in 2010, GoFundMe is the world’s largest social fundraising platform, with over $2 billion raised so far. With a community of more than 25 million donors, GoFundMe is changing the way the world gives.

Contact: GoFundMe Press | press@gofundme.com

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5 Hacks for Back-to-College Planning with Amazon

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SEATTLE, Wash. — It’s hard to believe, but school is back in session and while essays and exams may be terrible, getting situated with this season’s hottest personal technology products and other favorite everyday essentials doesn’t have to be. Whether you’re looking for smart dorm room hacks or ways to save time and money on everyday activities and purchases (free two-day shipping, anyone?), we’ve gathered our top five hacks to make this school year your most convenient yet.

1. Nothing says convenience likes your own voice-activated assistant. Cue Alexa, the AI power behind Amazon Echo, with a simple “Alexa” command. Echo connects to the Alexa Voice Service to play music, provide information, news, sports scores, weather, and more with over 3,000 skills available. Order late-night Domino’s before midterms, jam out to your exam pump up playlist, or call a Lyft to take you to off-campus events – all you have to do is ask.

2. Get all your essentials at the push of a button. Never run out of your favorite dorm room go-to’s again or get stuck running to the student store at 3:00 a.m. with Amazon Dash Button, a Wi-Fi connected device that reorders essentials with a simple press. Whether you’re looking to survive midnight cravings with Campbell’s Soup, conquer laundry runs with Tide Pods or pull an all-nighter with the help of Red Bull – there’s a button for every student need.

3. Overcome terrible dorm room cable. With Fire TV Stick, keeping up with your favorite shows from the comfort of your dorm room has never been easier. With over 4,000 channels, apps and games, Amazon Fire TV Stick works with any HDTV and is compatible with most dorm Wi-Fi. Just plug and play anywhere—your room, at a friend’s place, or even take it home for the holidays. With instant access to Netflix, HBO NOW, Amazon Video and Hulu, there’s always a binge-worthy show at the ready. Also keep up with sports and award seasons live with Sling TV, which includes ESPN, AMC, HGTV, TNT, Food Network and other popular channels.

4. Make the most of a tight budget and tight schedule. Amazon Prime Student can help students save time and money by skipping the bookstore line and visiting the Textbook Store. Amazon offers savings of up to 80% off price list for rentals between 30 to 360 days and up to 60% off purchases. With Amazon’s flexible rental program, students can decide how long to keep the material and when it comes time to send items back, Amazon will pay for return shipping.

Features include:

- Textbook and eTextbook Rental: Keep textbooks for an entire semester at discounts of up to 80% with the flexible rental program – including free return shipping.

- Prime Video: Get access to thousands of Prime Video titles at no additional cost. Members can also purchase video subscriptions to Showtime, STARZ, and other streaming entertainment channels through Amazon Video.

- Prime Music: Listen ad-free to over a million songs from top artists like Taylor Swift, Daft Punk, and Kanye West with personalized or more general playlists curated by Amazon.

- Free Two-Day Shipping: Get access to unlimited two-day shipping on more than 30 million items.

5. Study hard—and take plenty of breaks. With Fire tablet, you can store your eTextbooks right alongside your favorite movies, TV shows, songs, books, and more for the perfect work/relaxation balance. Use the Kindle app on Fire tablet, for access to cool studying features, like X-Ray for Textbooks which shows definitions, related pages, and relevant content from sources like Wikipedia and YouTube; or use Multi-Color Highlights to highlight important words or notes in color, and turn those notes into Flashcards. Then, when you’re ready for a study break, Fire tablet lets you surf the web, listen to music, play a game, flip through a magazine, or catch up on your favorite TV series. With access to millions of movies, TV shows, songs, books, magazines, apps, and games—you’ll have plenty of entertainment to enjoy on your Fire tablet during your much needed downtime.

About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about.

About Amazon Prime Student
Amazon Prime Student gives college students unlimited Free Two-Day Shipping on more than 30 million items. Students can sign up for a six-month, trial of Amazon Prime Student to access these benefits, plus unlimited streaming of tens of thousands of movies and TV shows with Prime Video and free unlimited photo storage with Prime Photos. After that it’s just $49 a year — half the price of a regular Amazon Prime membership — and includes over a million songs with Prime Music and one free pre-released book a month with Kindle First. To learn more, visit amazon.com/join student.

Students Can Snap a Selfie in their Campus Store to Win

Campus Stores give students in U.S. and Canada chance to win $100 and support student scholarships

OBERLIN, OHIO, September 22, 2016 – Celebrating and rewarding students for their hard work, and supporting student scholarships, are at the heart of the National Student Day photo-sharing contest, which runs Sept. 22-Oct. 20. The sixth annual National Student Day contest, sponsored by the National Association of College Stores (NACS), gives students the opportunity to win a $100 prize to their campus store and support a good cause.

High school and college students can enter the contest up to five times per person by simply snapping a selfie in their campus store and posting to a public Twitter or Instagram account with the hashtag #SMILEFORNSD. Students can also enter on the contest tab of the National Student Day Facebook page. For each contest entry received, NACS will donate $1, up to $5,000, to Scholarship America, the nation’s largest, private-education-support organization.

National Student Day, slated for October 13, 2016, is a day for campus stores across the U.S. and Canada to celebrate their students by hosting a variety of events.

For more information and complete contest rules, visit www.nationalstudentday.com.

About The National Association of College Stores
The National Association of College Stores (NACS), headquartered in Oberlin, Ohio, is the professional trade association of the $10 billion campus store industry. NACS provides education and other resources that help its member stores support student success, the campus experience, and the academic missions of higher education institutions. The association represents all campus stores, which include nearly 4,000 campuses in the U.S. and Canada, and approximately 1,000 industry-related companies that supply course materials and other merchandise and services to campus stores.

Media Contact
Jennifer Libertowski
jlibertowski@nacs.org
(440) 775-7777

GenFKD Kicks Off Academic Year Holding Higher Ed Accountable

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Millennial organization addresses shortcomings of educational model for modern economy; Co-Founder Justin Dent Named Executive Director

NEW YORK, Sept. 21st, 2016 – GenFKD, or “Generation Financial Knowledge Development” launched the 2016-2017 academic year building a model curriculum of how higher education must evolve to meet the needs of the 21st Century economy.

The three-year-old organization sponsors student representatives on 26 campuses nationwide who are actively running financial literacy education programs and developing a formal curriculum for in-class or on-campus instruction, to address entrepreneurship, self-employment, economic policy and pocketbook economics.

As the new academic year kicked off, GenFKD’s co-founder, Justin Dent, a native of New York City’s Harlem and recent graduate in Public Policy of the University of Maryland, was named Executive Director while co-founder, Jesse Jacobs, a 2014 graduate of Elon University in Strategic Communications North Carolina, becomes Creative Director.

For Dent, the organization’s mission is deeply personal. “I grew up in a community where people believed in the power of education,” Dent said. “There were too many people like me who fell through the cracks finding academic and career opportunities, and it’s mission to change that dynamic through educational reform.”

Digital outreach is the keystone of the organization’s effort to prepare students for real world jobs and taxes. GenFKD, a 501(c)(3), is vastly expanding its new media strategy, generating original video content, distributed via its extensive social media platforms.

“We bring workforce readiness into the conversation through video storytelling,” said David Grasso, a former television journalist and graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School and GenFKD’s new Multimedia Editor. “We leverage real-world stories to talk directly to students about common-sense economics. We believe that financial literacy begins on a personal level, and helps young adults understand broader economic policies, the regulatory environment, and tax structures that promote job and business growth.”

Founded in 2014, GenFKD also serves as a digital platform to foster awareness about the gap between education and employment in the 21st Century. “We offer students more tools to succeed, while advocating for changing a higher education system that is clearly behind the times,” Dent said.

“From cost-of-living calculators to on-campus speakers who are winners of ABC’s ‘Shark Tank’ contestants, we try to bring the role of business, entrepreneurship, economic and tax policy and true career preparation to the forefront, not the plot of Hollywood movies,” Dent explained.

For more information on the organization, visit GenFKD.org or contact david@genfkd.org for interview requests with GenFKD’s leadership or any of the student fellows on 26 college campuses in seven states and the District of Columbia.

Justin Dent

Justin Dent

Coffee Meets Bagel Survey Reveals How To Get A Second Date

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San Francisco, Calif. (September 20, 2016) – First date advice is abundant, but often tips from one source contradict tips from another. Meeting up for drinks sounds like a perfect first date. But is it really? Coffee Meets Bagel, the dating app for millennials looking for relationships, surveyed more than 1,000 happy couples who met through its app to uncover details about what made their first date a success. Coffee Meets Bagel then surveyed hundreds of single college students to compare their thoughts about first dates and expose first date myths.

The top 9 findings include:

1. Couples chatted for more than one week before going on a first date.

- 37% of couples say they chatted with each other for more than one week before going on a first date vs. 23% of single college students who say they talk that long before meeting up.

2. They took advantage of weekdays!

- Couples didn’t wait for the weekend to schedule their first date. All days of the week were surprisingly well represented.

- Single college students, however, overwhelming prefer to schedule first dates on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

3. Couples committed to dinner dates, not just coffee or drinks.

- More couples went out for dinner (33%) on their first date than any other activity. 29% said they went out for drinks and 16% went out for coffee.

- Only 15% of college students say dinner is an ideal first date activity. Most say drinks (22%) or coffee (27%) make for the best first date.

4. The guy planned the first date.

- 62% of men who are in a committed relationship say they planned their first date.

- The majority of single college men (61%), however, think a first date together should be planned together.

5. The guy picked up the check.

- 80% of couples say the man paid for the first date, while 20% split the check.

- Twice as many single college women (42%) prefer to split the bill.

6. Couples kept the first date affordable.

- Good news for starving students! 73% of couples say their first date cost less than $50.

7. Most couples did not kiss on their first date!

- Only 29% of couples surveyed locked lips on their first date.

- 49% of college students say they typically kiss on a first date.

8. Most couples talked or texted right after their date.

- 56% of couples say they talked or texted each other right after their date.

- Less than half (43%) of single college students say they communicate immediately after a great first date.

9. They planned their second date right away.

- 77% of couples planned their second date during their first date, or the day after.

The surveys were conducted in August 2016 among couples who met through Coffee Meets Bagel and single college students currently using the app.

“We were surprised to see certain findings emerge in the data from couples,” said Dawoon Kang, co-founder of Coffee Meets Bagel. “We were so inspired to hear about what worked from our success stories. We felt a responsibility to share this valuable information and help take some of the guesswork and anxiety out of first dates for singles looking to find love.”

Coffee Meets Bagel launches FirstDateSpots.com
Coffee Meets Bagel’s survey among singles uncovered that 84% of singles say they check online review sites like Yelp when selecting a location for a first date. Today, fully leveraging Yelp’s newest Fusion API and Yelp data, Coffee Meets Bagel launched a website called First Date Spots (www.FirstDateSpots.com) to help singles find the ideal place for a first date. Singles first specify their date spot preferences (coffee/bar/restaurant, price and location). The site then queries Yelp’s database for the best matches and only returns venues that have classy, intimate, romantic, or trendy ambience and quiet or average noise level. Finding a great spot for a first date just got a lot easier!

“Coffee Meets Bagel has realized a great opportunity in not only connecting people, but helping them find an ideal location for a first date by using local Yelp content,” said Chad Richard, SVP Business & Corporate Development at Yelp. “Their integration of the Yelp Fusion API will add a lot of value to Coffee Meets Bagel community, and hopefully tee up the perfect setting for true love!”

About Coffee Meets Bagel
Coffee Meets Bagel is a highly curated dating service where women choose who gets to talk to them among quality men who have expressed interest. Coffee Meets Bagel helps singles find meaningful relationships by providing an experience that reflects the different ways men and women approach dating. Since its launch in 2012, Coffee Meets Bagel has generated more than a billion introductions among singles and more than 50,000 happy couples have met through the app. Coffee Meets Bagel is free to download for iOS and Android. https://coffeemeetsbagel.com

The Easy Way to Save Money on Textbooks

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iFlipd allows short-term textbook rentals with weekly rental model
Sign up today to get $60 OFF!

PORTLAND, OR – September 19, 2016: The genius of iFlipd is in the flexibility, as students can rent textbooks by the week in print or digital. iFlipd launched the industry’s first weekly textbook rental service, empowering students to break up the cost of textbooks and only pay for the weeks they really need them. Obviously, for some classes students need a book for the entire semester. Now they have free financing by breaking up book payments into small weekly installments. But what about classes where students only use a book for two-weeks of the term?

This is where students can really save with iFlipd. Students can rent a book for the initial assignment and flip it back after the paper or quiz. Grab it again for the mid-term, and then at the end of the term to study for the final. Now students are only paying for those scattered weeks throughout the term when they really need the books. No more paying full price for six books that the professor assigned for class.

SIGN UP TODAY AND SAVE $60

“Students should have more affordable choices when it comes to textbooks, and iFlipd fills that void by letting them decide when to pay and for how long,” said Kati Radziwon, iFlipd CEO and founder. “We have students across 319 cities from campuses such as Oregon, UCLA, Florida, and NYU that are saving money renting by week. By giving students flexibility with their books, they are now in control of their costs like never before.”

Accounts are free with plenty of opportunities for students to earn free books using a points system. Every new account gets a free weekly rental, and every friend they invite, earns points towards free books and more. iFlipd has textbook rentals as low as $2 a week and college students are saving more than $600 a year.

Students can sign up to start saving at: www.iflipd.com.

About iFlipd
iFlipd is the first weekly rental textbook platform that allows students to pay for only the weeks they really need textbooks. With the first pay-as-you-go model students are empowered to break up the traditional cost of textbooks. For more information please visit: www.iflipd.com

Media Contact
Kati Radziwon
press@iflipd.com

3 Easy Ways to Help College Students Better Understand Credit

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Riverwoods, IL, September 13, 2016 – You have probably heard the term “credit score” in conversations or advertisements, but what exactly is a credit score? And more importantly, as a college student, why is it important to know your credit score? A FICO® Credit Score is a three-digit number that is calculated based on data from your credit report, such as the amount of money you owe to creditors, your payment history and length of credit history, and types of credit (i.e. revolving loans like a credit card and/or installment loans like a student loan). The higher your credit score, the more “credit worthy” you are in the eyes of lenders, and the more likely you are to qualify for better rates and terms for future loans. Your credit score can be a big factor during some of life’s big moments like renting your first apartment or purchasing a car. Because of this, it’s important to familiarize yourself with your credit score and, if you don’t yet have a credit score, to work toward establishing one.

You can now check your FICO® Credit Score for free by using Discover’s new Credit Scorecard1, even if you are not a Discover customer. Along with providing your FICO® Score—the credit score that 90 percent of top lenders use—Credit Scorecard includes a summary of some of the data that determines your FICO® Score.

In addition to monitoring your score, there are several actions you can do now that will serve you throughout your financial life. Here are three ways for people with limited or no credit history to get off on the right foot:

1. Check Your Credit Health
Just like you stay on top of your grades so there are no big surprises at the end of the term or semester, you should stay on top of your financial health. Your credit score is like a “grade” that’s used by lenders. The higher your score, the better off you’ll be when it comes time to lease a car or buy a home.

In fact, consumers who regularly check their credit score say doing so improves their credit behavior. A recent survey2 from Discover found that 73 percent of those who checked their credit score seven or more times in a year said that checking their score had a positive impact on their credit behavior, such as paying bills on time, paying down loans and maintaining low balances on their credit cards. You can check your FICO® Score for free at Discover.com/CreditScorecard to see if your credit score “grade” is up to par.

2. The Benefits of a Student Credit Card
As a student, you may not be ready for an auto loan or mortgage, but you may want to consider getting a credit card. By using a credit card responsibility, you can start to lay the groundwork for a healthy credit score.

Before applying for a credit card, make sure to do your research. Many credit card companies offer a student version of their popular cards. The Discover it® chrome for Students card offers the same great benefits as Discover’s non-student cards, such as flexible rewards and 100 percent U.S.-based customer service. Plus, you get your FICO® Credit Score for free on monthly statements and online3.

3. Pay Bills on Time
Your payment history typically makes up 35 percent of your FICO® Credit Score. In general, people who continually pay their bills on time and demonstrate a good payment history tend to appear less risky to lenders. To stay on top of your payments, you can look into automatic payment options or mark a time on your calendar each month to pay your bill. Make it part of your routine!

This is also where having a budget comes in. If you have a job, you can plan to put a certain amount of income aside to make sure that you are paying off your bills each month. The school year is filled with fun things like going out to dinner with friends and concerts; just make sure you set a budget and that you can cover all of the costs.

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About Discover 
Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) is a direct banking and payment services company with one of the most recognized brands in U.S. financial services. Since its inception in 1986, the company has become one of the largest card issuers in the United States. The company issues the Discover card, America’s cash rewards pioneer, and offers private student loans, personal loans, home equity loans, checking and savings accounts and certificates of deposit through its direct banking business. It operates the Discover Network, with millions of merchant and cash access locations; PULSE, one of the nation’s leading ATM/debit networks; and Diners Club International, a global payments network with acceptance in more than 185 countries and territories. For more information, visit www.discover.com/company.

Media Contact: 
Jeremy Borling
224-405-4252
jeremyborling@discover.com
@Discover_News

1 FICO® Credit Scores provided by Credit Scorecard are based on data from Experian and may be different from other credit scores. See Discover.com/CreditScorecard to learn more. FICO® is a registered trademark of the Fair Isaac Corporation in the United States and other countries.

The national survey of 2,000 consumers ages 18 and over was commissioned by Discover and conducted in March 2016 by Toluna, an independent survey research firm. The maximum margin of sampling error was ±5 percentage points with a 95 percent level of confidence. The results were based on consumers’ self-reported estimated credit scores. The survey was not based on FICO® Scores.

3 FICO® Credit Scores are disclosed on monthly statements and online and are based on data from TransUnion and may be different from other credit scores. Limitations apply to the FICO® Credit Score benefit. See Discover.com/FICO to learn more. FICO is a registered trademark of the Fair Isaac Corporation in the United States and other countries.

Bored in class? Stop texting & hack your learning style to get ahead

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So you’re an English major who signed up for “Geology 101: The History of Rocks” to fulfill a requirement you wouldn’t wish on anyone. Or maybe you’re a Geology major forced to take “English 110: Shakespeare’s Sonnets in the Modern World.” Let’s face it: not every course you’re taking this semester may seem like a winner.

You’re not alone. A recent study from the University of Central Lancashire reports that almost 60% of students find at least half their lectures boring, with 75% resorting to daydreaming, 66% to doodling, and 45% to texting to pass the time.

So who’s to blame? Sometimes the material bores us, and sometimes our professors are as uninteresting as an over-filtered Kardashian selfie, but sometimes we’re just not paying attention. Placing blame is pretty subjective, but the data about how we learn and retain information is not. Learning science shows that obtuse subjects, poor teachers, and even your own boredom don’t have to be roadblocks to your learning experience.

Dr. Bror Saxberg, Chief Learning Officer at Kaplan, is an expert in learning science, a field that applies scientific principles to the design and improvement of instructional methods to promote better learning outcomes. If you’re finding some of your courses to be a slog this semester, Bror has some tips to help you take responsibility for your own learning and get the most out of your classes.

• If you aren’t interested in the subject, try connecting it to what you are interested in. This will improve both retention and understanding. For example, Dr. Saxberg once wrote an English paper that used statistics to analyze themes in Romeo and Juliet. Try talking to your professors about how you can use your talents to explore the subject in a new way — they might just be impressed with your initiative! After all, passivity is the enemy of learning.

• In class, take detailed notes by hand, not by computer. The goal is to force yourself to summarize on the fly, not get the words verbatim. You might find the subject more interesting than you initially thought — and you’ll be amazed how bits and pieces will keep coming to mind afterwards. (To quote Shakespeare: “But soft! what light through yonder window breaks?”)

• Get the most out of reading assignments by voluntarily summarizing them with the book closed. While this isn’t easy, it really works to embed what you know — and reveal what’s important you might have missed.

• Space out your assignments rather than hustle to get them all done at the end of the semester. Students who do their work in spaced-out chunks as they approach the finish line are more likely to actually understand and retain information, so plan ahead! Best of all, you’ll be much less stressed when Spring Fling hits at the same time your friends’ essays are all due.

At the end of the day, we all have requirements and even electives that might not prove to be as interesting as we thought. But that doesn’t mean we can’t make the most of our classroom and study time.

Using just a few proven learning science techniques, a forgettable class for everyone else can become a great — maybe even transformative — class for you.

Smokers Wage Gap Costs Young Smokers Up to $10,000 Per Year

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truth® Shows Why Tobacco Use Can Leave you #SQUADLESS

Research shows that smokers earn 20 percent2 less than non-smokers, and young adult smokers miss out on up to $10,000 each year1. Teens know smoking is bad for their own health and those around them, but most don’t know that it also hurts their wallet.  truth, the award winning youth tobacco prevention campaign, is using this surprising, yet important fact to empower smokers and nonsmokers alike to be the generation to end tobacco use for good.

According to a survey from Truth Initiative, 88 percent of young adults aged 15-25 years did not know smokers earn 20 percent less than non-smokers. In its latest campaign, truth shines a spotlight on the “smokers wage gap” with the debut of two new videos. The first, #SQUADLESS, shows how smoking = less financial stability = less cash to spend on fun times with your friends or “squad,” – leaving you #SQUADLESS. It features Vine star George Janko and YouTube star Macy Kate.

Watch the #SQUADLESS video.

According to The Futures Company’s 2016 TRU Youth MONITOR, the three biggest complaints about teens’ daily lives are school (35 percent), followed by not having enough money (31 percent), and not having enough time (27 percent). Additionally, teens are concerned about the financial stability of their future. In a survey conducted by Northeastern University, 67 percent of the respondents, who were between the ages of 16 and 19, said that they were concerned about “being able to afford college.”

The second video, #FinishIT – Smoking Gap, states “Don’t let Big Tobacco’s Products Control Your Paycheck.” By highlighting the disparity in earning potential between smokers and non-smokers, an inequity that teens can control, truth is giving this generation yet another reason to end smoking for good.

“Teens are deeply concerned with preparing for their futures and while they know tobacco is expensive, they often don’t realize just how much it’s costing them now and in the future,” said Robin Koval, CEO and president of Truth Initiative, the national public health organization that directs and funds the truth campaign.

One in three youth smokers will eventually die from tobacco-related diseases. With almost 82 percent of adult smokers starting smoking by the age of 18, it’s important to find new ways to engage in conversations about this deadly topic. Smoking affects just about everything this generation cares about: relationshipsanimal welfare and even how much money they make.

#SQUADLESS and #FinishIT – Smoking Gap are the latest extension of the truth Finish It campaign and aims to empower smokers and nonsmokers alike to make this the generation that ends tobacco use for good. Teen cigarette smoking rates are down to a historic low of 7 percent, compared to 23 percent in 2000. truth remains committed to providing this generation with the facts and inspiration they need to #FinishIT once and for all.

To learn more, visit thetruth.com or follow @truthorange on Twitter.

Media Contact
Sarah Shank
202-454-5561
sshank@truthinitiative.org
press@truthinitiative.org

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1. U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers Second Quarter 2016. 2016;
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/wkyeng.pdf.
2. Hotchkiss JL, Pitts MM. Even one is too much: the economic consequences of being a smoker. 2013.

Atom Tickets Partners with Lionsgate to Bring “Nerve” Back to Theaters Nationwide

Every ticket is $5

atom tickets Lionsgate

LOS ANGELES, September 2, 2016 – Atom Tickets, the first-of-its-kind mobile movie ticketing platform, today announced that it is partnering with Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF) to bring back the studio’s much buzzed about teen thriller “Nerve” to theaters nationwide. The convenient and socially driven movie ticketing platform is offering moviegoers an opportunity to check out one of the hottest releases of the summer for only $5 when they purchase through the app. “Nerve,” starring Emma Roberts and Dave Franco, centers around a high school senior who finds herself immersed in an online game of truth or dare, where her every move starts to become manipulated by an anonymous community of “watchers.”

“This innovative promotion is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the opportunities that Atom Tickets creates for our exhibition partners and our moviegoers,” said Lionsgate Vice Chairman Michael Burns. “Nerve is the ideal film on which to begin tapping the full potential of the Atom platform.”

Available for free on the Apple App Store and Google Play, Atom Tickets makes going to the movies fun, social and hassle-free with the ability to discover new films, browse trailers, read reviews, invite friends, buy tickets and pre-order concessions. At the theatre, consumers go directly to the ushers and concession counters, where they simply scan a QR code at tablet kiosks. Paper tickets and IOUs have been replaced by Atom’s innovative platform, which keeps all plans, messaging, payment and tickets in one place.

How it Works:
Atom Tickets re-imagines the most convenient way for users to plan a night out at the movies. Available for free on the Apple App Store and Google Play, the app provides relevant reviews, trailers and synopses to help customers make the best decision on what to see. Moviegoers may then invite friends (via Facebook or their contact lists) to purchase their own tickets to join them. Atom Tickets enables seamless ordering of tickets and concessions from any Android or iOS phone. At the theater, consumers go directly to the ushers and concession counters, where they simply scan a QR code at tablet kiosks. Paper tickets and IOUs have been replaced by Atom’s innovative platform, which keeps all plans, messaging, payment and tickets in one place.

Below is the list of cities that will be bringing “Nerve” back just in time for Labor Day Weekend.

Albany-Schenectady-Troy
Albuquerque-Santa Fe
Alexandria, LA
Amarillo
Anchorage
Atlanta
Augusta-Aiken
Austin
Baltimore
Baton Rouge
Binghamton
Birmingham
Boise
Boston
Bowling Green
Buffalo
Burlington-Plattsburgh
Champaign&Sprngfld-Decatur
Charleston, SC
Charleston-Huntington
Charlotte
Charlottesville
Chicago
Cincinnati
Cleveland-Akron
Columbia, Sc
Columbia-Jefferson City
Columbus, Oh
Corpus Christi
Dallas-Ft. Worth
Davenport-R.Island-Moline
Dayton
Denver
Detroit
Elmira
Evansville
Fresno-Visalia
Ft. Myers-Naples
Ft. Smith-Fay-Sprngdl-Rgrs
Ft. Wayne
Gainesville
Grand Rapids-Kalmzoo-B.Crk
Greensboro-H.Point-W.Salem
Greenvll-Spart-Ashevll-And
Harrisburg-Lncstr-Leb-York
Harrisonburg
Hartford & New Haven
Hattiesburg-Laurel
Honolulu
Houston
Huntsville-Decatur
Indianapolis
Jackson, MS
Jacksonville
Joplin-Pittsburg
Kansas City
Knoxville
Las Vegas
Lima
Little Rock-Pine Bluff
Los Angeles
Louisville
Madison
Meridian
Miami-Ft. Lauderdale
Milwaukee
Minneapolis-St. Paul
Mobile-Pensacola
Monterey-Salinas
Montgomery-Selma
Myrtle Beach-Florence
Nashville
New Orleans
New York
Norfolk-Portsmth-Newpt Nws
Odessa-Midland
Oklahoma City
Omaha
Orlando-Daytona Bch-Melbrn
Paducah-Cape Girard-Harsbg
Palm Springs
Parkersburg
Peoria-Bloomington
Philadelphia
Phoenix (Prescott)
Pittsburgh
Portland, OR
Portland-Auburn
Providence-New Bedford
Raleigh-Durham (Fayetvlle)
Richmond-Petersburg
Roanoke-Lynchburg
Rochester, Ny
Rockford
Sacramnto-Stkton-Modesto
Salisbury
Salt Lake City
San Antonio
San Diego
San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose
Santabarbra-Sanmar-Sanluob
Savannah
Seattle-Tacoma
Shreveport
South Bend-Elkhart
Spokane
Springfield, MO
St. Louis
Syracuse
Tallahassee-Thomasville
Tampa-St. Pete
Terre Haute
Topeka
Tucson
Tulsa
Tyler-Longview
Waco-Temple-Bryan
Washington, DC
Watertown
West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce
Wichita Falls & Lawton
Wilkes Barre-Scranton-Hztn
Wilmington
Youngstown

###

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Contacts:
Jackie Crystal
Rogers and Cowan
jcrystal@rogersandcowan.com
310-854-8157

Shannah Miller
Atom Tickets
shannah@atomtickets.com
310-779-9800

Peter Wilkes
Lionsgate
pwilkes@lionsgate.com
310-255-3726