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Date: Monday, Feb. 9, 1998
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   
Contact: CDC/Office on Smoking and Health Llelwyn F. Grant and Sylvia Rosas (770) 488-5493

CDC and Boyz II Men Launch Third Annual Teen Media Contest on Tobacco

Four-Time Grammy Award winners Boyz II Men have teamed up with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to encourage young people across the nation to test their writing and production skills during CDC's third annual Teen Media Contes t, which was launched today and continues through Tuesday, April 7. CDC is promoting the contest along with a new high school newspaper ad featuring a photo of Boyz II Men and the headline message "Smoke Free--It's The New Evolution." More tha n 30,000 public and private middle and senior high schools in the United States will receive the contest packages.

"This campaign combines celebrity appeal and peer involvement to deglamorize smoking among young people," said HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala. "Boyz II Men are role models to help teens understand that tobacco use and peak performa nce just do not mix."

All teens who participate in the contest will receive a free "Smoke Free--It's The New Evolution" poster. Also, teens will have an opportunity to interview the group on an Internet chat line--which will be announced at a later date on t he CDC website--to find

out what the group thinks about teen tobacco use. The contest package includes an "Ask Boyz II Men" sheet covering such topics as the group's personal thoughts about teen smoking and the negative effects of smoking on performance.

"This year's media contest will give students a chance to put together creative messages for their fellow teens about tobacco use," said CDC's Director David Satcher, M.D. "We are pleased to have Boyz II Men help inspire the nation 's youth to generate new and engaging messages about teen smoking."

Awards will be given for best news story, feature article, editorial/commentary, editorial cartoon, TV and radio public service announcement, poster, and educational video. Finalists will be judged by a panel of professional journalists represent ing top print and electronic media. Winners will be announced by mid-May. First-place winners will receive the "1998 CDC Teen Media Award" along with a U.S. Government Savings Bond, and a copy of Boyz II Men's latest CD, "Evolution." ; Second- and third-place winners each will receive an award certificate.

First-place contest winners will qualify for a special grand-prize drawing to win tickets to a Boyz II Men concert. A pair of tickets will be awarded to grand-prize winners in both the middle and senior high school divisions. Second- and third-p lace winners will qualify for a drawing that includes personally autographed "Smoke Free--It's The New Evolution" posters or the group's "Evolution" CD.

"With teenage smoking rates continuing to go up, our teen media contest is right on time," said Dr. Michael Eriksen, Director of the CDC's Office on Smoking and Health (OSH). "If there is one message we really want to get across wi th this contest, it is that in order to realize their dreams, teens must not light up."

Student contest entries must be postmarked by April 7, 1998, and mailed to Teen Media Contest, CDC, OSH, c/o Cygnus Corporation, 5640 Nicholson Lane No. 300, Rockville, MD, 20852. To order the Teen Media Contest package, contact OSH at (770) 488 -5705 (press 2 for publications), e-mail (tobaccoinfo@cdc.gov), or write the Office on Smoking and Health, CDC, Mailstop K-50, 4770 Buford Hwy., N.E., Atlanta, GA 30341. Contest details and an entry form are also posted on our Internet website (www.cdc.g ov/tobacco). For more information, contact Llelwyn Grant or Sylvia Rosas, OSH, at (770) 488-5705.

Note: HHS press releases are available on the World Wide Web at: www.hhs.gov.