Inkspot

Upcoming concerts

March 17, 2013

Bloomington: Kid Rock is coming to the US Cellular Coliseum on March 28th. His opening acts include Buckcherry and Hellbound Glory. The concert will start at 7:30 p.m. The only tickets left are priced at $71.50 plus fees (on ticketmaster.com). These seats are midrange, but it is possible to get tickets from a third party such as stubhub.com. C...

Cheapest four year universities in Illinois

Olivia Smith, Features

March 11, 2013

College tends to be a stressful and expensive part of life for whoever is paying. Whether it is you or your parents paying for college, it is still an overly expensive, yet necessary, step in your future. It seems especially costly to attend a college in Illinois, whether you may be an in-state or out-of-state student. Most of the four-year universities are quite pricey, but there are still a couple reasonably affordable schools. The all around, most inexpensive four-year university in Illinois is Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. It is located in...

How many calories are you actually consuming?

March 5, 2013

It is surprising to find out that some of your favorite foods have way more calories than expected. According to walking.about.com, 2,000-2,500 calories is a healthy amount per day. Any non-diet soda is extremely high in calories. According to McDonald’s nutrition chart, a large Dr. Pepper is approximately 310 calories. One can of Coca-Col...

6-year-old hostage finally free

Olivia Smith, Features

February 25, 2013

On Jan. 29, five-year-old Ethan was taken hostage by Jim Lee Dykes. Dykes boarded a school bus to take a child for his hostage plan and kidnapped Ethan. When boarding the bus, the driver, Charles Poland, attempted to block him randomly from the children, which resulted in him being shot four times by Dykes. He then snatched Ethan and took him...

Are American Idol judges qualified to judge?

February 11, 2013

Over the years, American Idol has had an abundance of judges, but are half of them even “qualified”, per say, to judge the contestants? Idol has had a total of 10 judges. Most of them know what they are talking about when it comes to music, but what about the judges that aren’t? The first judge, and the judge that has stayed with Idol the...

Why should you read a John Green book?

Olivia Smith, Features

February 8, 2013

John Green is an author from Indianapolis, Indiana, but grew up in Orlando, Florida. As a young adult fiction writer, he typically writes love stories. His books can easily make any person cry, and they are well worth reading. The Fault in Our Stars is a book about two teenagers with terminal cancer that eventually fall in love. It is a love story, yet a tragedy at the same time. There are happy parts and many sad parts. Green also has a way with words; many people quote his stories. Paper Towns is a story about a boy and a girl that were next door neighbor...

What happened with the papparazi & Bieber?

Olivia Smith, Features

February 4, 2013

We have all heard about Justin Bieber’s encounter with illegal drugs, but what exactly happened with the paparazzo, Chris Guerra, that was killed while trying to catch him in action? As if enough attention has not already been drawn to Bieber in the last few weeks, now this tragic accident has appeared in the news. On Tuesday, January 1st, Guerra was struck by an SUV while trying to snap pictures of Justin’s Ferrari. He started to run across the street while taking pictures; therefore he was clearly not paying any attention to the oncoming traffic surround d...

Jack Reacher

Olivia Smith, Features

January 28, 2013

If you are interested in action-packed movies, I suggest you go see the movie Jack Reacher. The film is based on Lee Child’s books, which include the character Jack Reacher. The main character in the movie, Reacher (Tom Cruise), is a former U.S. Army military police major. He has been impossible to find for the past couple of years, but so...

Dance Moms is back

Olivia Smith, Features

December 27, 2012

After the long wait since the season finale on September 5th, 2012, Dance Moms will finally be back on January 1st. If you have not watched the show before, it is really easy to become addicted to. Dance Moms is about Abbey Lee Miller’s competitive dance team which consists of girls aged six to fourteen. Dance Moms also focuses on the moms a lot; t...

Girl’s guide to winter trends

The colored scarf adds a nice hint of color to the neutral colored sweater.

Olivia Smith, Features

December 6, 2012

Now that it’s winter, it’s time to start changing out our clothes. From summer or fall fashion to winter, a girl’s wardrobe should not include extremely bright clothing such as neon colors. For winter, clothing should be more neutral colors such as tans, creams, browns, greens, black, and grey and darker reds. As long as the color isn’t...

The Juice Pack Reserve is small and convenient for taking on the go.

ReJUICEinate your phone

November 26, 2012

A recent growing trend for iPhone users is the Mophie Juice Pack. These are rechargeable phone cases and portable chargers that allow you to charge your phone wherever you are with no plug-in needed. The first form of the Mophie Juice Pack is the rechargeable phone case. They range from $79 -$150. The pricing depends how much of a charge the...

Swift’s album “Red” breaking records

Olivia Smith, Features

November 20, 2012

Taylor Swift’s new album Red, released on Oct. 22, has broken multiple records already. In the first week of its release, her album sold 1.21 million copies. The release makes her the first female in history to have two albums to sell over a million copies within the first week. The other album to reach a million buys in the first week wa...