The Outlook, Monmouth Uni­versity’s student-run newspaper, in a national competition, has been awarded “Most Outstand­ing Newspaper,” in addition to first place with special merit, by the American Scholastic Press Association (ASPA) for the sec­ond time in the past four years.

The ASPA holds an annual competition for university news­papers, as well as contests for other publications. Papers are judged on content coverage, page design, general plan, art, adver­tising, editing and creativity. The Outlook scored a total of 955 out of 1,000 points, with perfect scores in content coverage, illus­tration, and creativity. One judge wrote, “You have an excellent school newspaper, which shows the creativity and journalistic knowledge of your editors, re­porters, writers, photographers, layout/graphics designers, and adviser.”

“We try not to be satisfied with `good enough,’” Morano said. “It’s an honor to work with the students at the paper. I’m their biggest fan, and their biggest critic,” he said.

University President Paul G. Gaffney II, an avid reader of the paper is proud of the students’ achievement. “It (the award) sets us apart as a serious paper that looks like a real paper and seriously covers news like a real paper,” Gaffney said. “It is hard to have the time, as full-time students, to thoroughly research complicated issues. Yet, The Out­look takes on the challenge.” Gaff­ney said he likes to read the edito­rials and the sports articles, he said he is a fan of student achievement articles. “I like seeing The Outlook around campus, especially when we are trying to recruit new stu­dents,” said Gaffney. “[It’s a] great example of student involvement and success.”

“It’s a bit of an unreal feeling. I never really expected as a fresh­man entering the newsroom, that I would end up editing the paper and we would gain national recog­nition ,” said Brett Bodner, Editor-in-Chief.

Previously, Bodner served as the Managing Editor for two years under Gina Columbus, now a reporter with The Asbury Park Press, and took over the position as Editor-in-Chief after she gradu­ated. “I learned a lot [from previ­ous EIC’s],” he said. “I learned what to do and what not to do.” Bodner said he has come a long way during his year as Editor-in- Chief. He said he felt adequately prepared at the beginning of his term when it came to layout, co­pyediting and page design, but had to deal with some obstacles along the way.

Boyan Slat, 19-year-old aerospace engineer at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, created a device to potentially clean 7,250,000 tons of plastic from the world’s oceans-proving that a mere college student can solve global problems.

It is advocated to drink eight eight-ounce glasses of water each day; however, it is not necessary to drink this water from 16-ounce plastic bottles. To see the harm of plastic pollution, just Google a picture of the United States’ very own “plastic beach” (also known as Kamilo Beach, Hawaii). In eight years, 260,000 pounds of plastic was collected from this beach during routine cleanups, according to the Hawaii Wildlife Fund. To give some perspective-on average, an empty plastic water bottle only weighs 0.03 pounds. Kamilo Beach is just one of many polluted beaches around the world, due to the five major oceanic gyres, which are rotating systems of ocean currents that essentially attract millions of tons of plastic.

No one wants to swim in plastic soup, including marine life, but recently it seems that they do not have a choice. Research by the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found that over 100,000 marine mammals and one million seabirds die from trash-related deaths each year. Furthermore, the University of British Columbia specifically studied the deaths of Northern Fulmars, a seabird common to the Northeast Atlantic regions. They found that 92.5 percent of the 67 birds studied had some form of plastic in their stomachs, ranging from 37 pieces per bird to 454 pieces.

Wildlife deaths and oceanic pollution can be stopped, but it is up to the public. The bottled water industry is entirely demand driven; therefore, in order to see results in the environment, the demands of the people must be altered. Some activists have displayed productive efforts, such as Concord, Massachusetts’ prohibition of the sale of plastic water bottles and the industry’s overall weight reduction of plastic bottles. However, Slat may have found the most effective solution of them all.

Slat has used his resources at Delft University of Technology to create an ocean cleanup device that could potentially remove 7,250,000 tons of plastic waste from the world’s oceans by 2020, equivalent to the weight of 1,000 Eiffel Towers. The device would move across the ocean’s garbage patches acting as a giant funnel with processing platforms to separate plankton from waste. He is currently completing a feasibility study, since many scientists and professional ocean activists have questioned the practicality of his solution. Regardless of the end result, the world has five years before they see the magic of Slat’s device, so in that time the public must recognize their responsibility to recycle, a simple act that can save hundreds of thousands of aquatic animals, reduce pollutants from building up in the food chain, and save millions of dollars in clean-up costs, lost tourism and damage to marine vessels.

Long Branch resident Robert Powers Sr. was attacked by his son, Robert Powers Jr., who yielded a machete and a switchblade knife upon the arrival of Long Branch Police Department (LBPD) last Monday.  Powers Sr. received first aid for a head injury, according to LBPD. 

Long Branch Director of Public Safety Jason Roebuck said that LBPD received a call about two males fighting outside at 121 Brighton Avenue around 5:00 pm on Monday. One of the subjects threatened to kill the other and then dragged him back into the house. 

When police arrived on the scene, Powers Sr. opened the door bleeding from a head wound. He told officers he was attacked by his son and was then removed from the residence, according to Roebuck. Powers Jr., who was still inside, approached the officers with a switchblade knife. The officers drew their weapons and backed out of the residence, he said. 

The officers were followed out by Powers Jr., who claimed that he was “Jesus Christ” and “the second coming of the Satanic Christ,” according to Public Safety.  Powers Jr. went back inside while police surrounded the house, said Roebuck. 

The subject continued to yell incoherently at the officers using racial slurs and inappropriate names while holding a machete. Powers Jr. also made a fake Molotov cocktail, which police suspected to be made with water and a wick, Roebuck added. 

Reinforcements called to the scene included the Monmouth County Emergency Response Team (MOCERT), West Long Branch Police Department (WLBPD), Long Branch Fire and First Aid and other off-duty officers, according to Public Safety. 

After refusing to exit the residence peacefully through negotiation, Powers Jr. was taken out of the house by MOCERT and arrested for simple assault, criminal restraint, possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose, and terroristic threats, said Roebuck.  The switchblade and machete were taken from the scene and Powers Jr. was taken to Monmouth Medical Center for psychiatric screening. 

University alum Anthony Panissidi covered the story for the Asbury Park Press. He said he received the news at approximately 6:20 pm. “I was very worried because I still have a lot of friends who go to Monmouth. I was just hoping none of them were in any danger,” he said. “There are a lot of nut jobs out there and it’s unfortunate that things like that have to happen.” 

Sebastian Pedrick, a bartender at Brighton Bar located in front of the Powers’ home, said that Long Branch got carried away while handling the incident. “I think the city went a little too far with the swat team thing, but I understand because everyone is on high alert because of the Boston bombing,” said Pedrick. 

Pictures above are screenshots from Shots iGot. The first picture is the opening screen of the app while the other three pictures are containers filled with estimated amounts of alcohol and mixers. The numbers above each bottle represent how many shots of alcohol are in the bottle.

Shots iGot is a new five star iPhone app created to reduce over-drinking. Paras Jain, Chief Operating Officer and one of the three creators, said that there is nothing like their app on the market right now.

The iPhone app was created by Jain, Josh Rosenheck who serves as the Chief Executive Officer and Mike Verderese who is the Chief Technology Officer.  All three of the gentlemen are 22 years old and attended Rutgers University together.

The purpose of Shots iGot is to help college students portion how much alcohol they are pouring into a container without measuring the amount first. “Students never take the time to measure their drinks,” Jain said. “They habitually pour hard alcohol directly into a party cups, water bottles and other containers without actually knowing how much they are pouring.”

Jain explained that they got the idea for the iPhone app after reading an article that explained how package sizes are purposely adjusted for marketing reasons because the human brain has a hard time with geometry regarding gauging volume. “We realized the same concept applied when students pour drinks into different size containers,” Jain said. “One bad estimate can lead to over-pouring and some serious consequences.” 

Suanne Schaad, substance awareness coordinator, said, “One of the main things I try to educate students on is blood alcohol content and the amount of alcohol consumed. When we don’t keep track of how many drinks we are drinking it is more difficult to know what to expect and students report the alcohol ‘hits’ them from nowhere.”

Their solution of over-pouring alcohol was Shots iGot. The app offers over 40 different bottle shapes and sizes. Once the user chooses the specific bottle he or she wants, the app goes to another page to reveal a touchable model of the bottle. The user then drags his or her finger to the level of the container that is filled with alcohol. The app measurements adjust to the shape of the bottles and produce a measurement of alcohol to 1/10 of a shot.

Shots iGot also features a camera option, where users can take a picture of their container which will then import the picture directly into the app. That picture can then be filled the same way as a container already featured as an option.

The app can also be used for mixed drinks. All the user has to do is turn on the “mixer” option and fill the container accordingly to how much of a mixer is being used.

“As college students, we saw the consequences of over-drinking firsthand and recognized the potential for a simple app to serve as a cool ‘harm reduction’ tool,” said Jain. He continued to say that college students love this app and are actually using it.

However, not all students feel the need to use the app. Jaclyn Franzi, junior education major said, “I feel like I would use my own shot glass or just eyeball it.” This is exactly what Jain, Rosenheck and Verderese are trying to prevent with Shots iGot.

Schaad explained that when she encountered students who overdrink alcohol, she finds herself trying to figure out how much alcohol the student poured into the water bottle and how many shots were actually in it. “Every year, we have a number of students who end up in the hospital for possible alcohol poisoning and it is often a result of drinking hard alcohol and not paying attention to how much,” she said.

The prototype for Shots iGot was created at the Princeton University Hackathon on Nov. 9 to Nov. 11, 2012. As a result of this competition, the app won first place for “most useful app,” second place for “best overall mobile app,” second place for “crowd favorite” and $2,000.

On Nov. 15, 2012, the gentlemen founded their company “Something With Flow.” Since then, they have partnered with other companies like Microsoft, the Thiel Foundation, Kairos Society, Princeton University professors and a collection of serial entrepreneurs. Jain said that they are not looking for other partnerships right now but they have received great mentorship from their current partners.

Two months after the Princeton University Hackathon, Jain said Rosenheck, Verderese and himself worked over 80 hours a week to refine the app. They then submitted it to the Apple Store around Jan. 12. After they got approval, Shots iGot was launched in the App Store around Jan. 22 and can be purchases for $1.99. Shots iGot Lite is a free preview of the app that can also be found at the App Store. “Since then we are now closing in on 20,000 plus downloads,” said Jain.

Schaad believes Shots iGot is a success but she suggest one addition she believes would be beneficial to the app. “I would love to see a calculation of blood alcohol content included which is personalized for each person’s sex and weight. The drink count, along with blood alcohol content, could really be a powerful tool for the responsible drinker,” she said.

Jain said that people have been really receptive of the app so far. His biggest surprise as a result of the app has been from different universities that have expressed their interest in promoting Shots iGot as a part of their “Safe Drinking” campaigns.

When asked about the future, Jain said that their plans are focused on continuing to grow. 

The video above was featured in a Huffington Post article written about Shots iGot. It is a demonstration of how to use the app. For the full Huffington Post article click on the following link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/01/shots-igot-app-liquor-alcohol_n_2728298.html