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Crown Point High School @InklingsCPHS Jan. 30 2015 Vol. 79 Issue 5
Crown Point’s Got Talent Talent show comes back with multiple acts including hoopers, musicians and dancers.
S See what acts took home awards at this year’s show on page 3
CHEAPER BY THE GALLON
$3.09
Various factors contribute to decrease in gas prices
$2.59
$2.05
BY SAM BARLOGA
$2.15
reporter
$2.23
$2.69 $2.19 $1.77 $1.79
Gas prices around the NWI and Chicagoland area as of Jan. 28. Prices found on gasbuddy.com
$2.09
$1.87 $1.91
$2.19 $1.83
$2.09
$2.99
$1.83 $1.99 $1.93
$1.82
$1.74 $1.78
$1.89 $1.89
$1.78 $1.60
$1.82 $1.82
$2.19
$1.89
$1.97
$1.89 $1.89
$1.94 $1.94
$2.09
786 cars for every
1,000 people in the USA
average U.S. household expenditures on gasoline $2, 912
$134.51 billion
gallons of gasoline used per year
facts provided by http://www.eia.gov, http://fuelgaugereport.aaa. com and http://www.nasdaq.com
Feature
News Lining up New lunch lines offer many choices to students page 2
With gas prices falling and consumers putting more back in their pockets, many drivers are asking: How low will these gas prices go? According to the American Automobile Association, since June of last year, gas and oil prices have been plummeting in price, going from a high of over $100 a barrel to its current state at under $44 a barrel. The national gas price average was once over $3.50 a barrel. Today, it is at a six-year low, and if recent trends continue, it is set to fall under $2. With gas prices dropping lower than seen in previous years, both students and adults are saving money at the pump. Junior Nate Knerler has seen these savings first hand. “I have an ‘06 Trailblazer, and it was only $20 for me to fill up my tank, which means I’m driving a lot more. There’s usually not enough money to go around when it takes $60 or $70 to fill up my tank,” Knerler said. The drop in price can be contributed to a variety of factors, including how much oil the Untied States and Canada have been pumping out. The United States has returned to being a top three oil producer, even though the country is ranked 11th in worldwide oil reserves, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. According to economics teacher Jim Ingelhart, because oil-producing nations such as Saudi Arabia have not cut oil production amounts, a massive surplus of oil is now on the market. “The reason that oil is so cheap is because the Saudis are producing at a high rate and they’re not going to lower it. The main reason they’re not going to lower it is because North America, especially the USA and Canada, is becoming the number one producer of oil and natural gas,” Ingelhart said. “The Saudis are trying to make sure that the oil shale that’s out near Colorado and that all the oil sand that is coming from Canada and the Dakotas can no longer be profitable. If (the Saudi Arabians) sell oil this cheap, it costs oil sand and oil shale companies too much to produce their oil.” Ingelhart also believes that China, the world’s second-largest economy by total GDP, will have a lot to do with the reason prices may continue to decrease. “I don’t think we’ve seen the end of oil’s freefall down. I don’t know if it’s going to fall into the 20’s, but I can see, in the short run, the price dropping off because it’s looking like China is going to come across an economic problem, which means less people are using oil in China, creating an excess on the market,” Ingelhart said. See gas prices on page 3
A&E
Paging Dr. You Technology advancements lead to self diagnosis page 8
Turn the pages Judge books by more than just their covers page 14