It is never too early to begin planning trips home for the holidays. Though Thanksgiving seems far off, and Christmas is an eternity away, Fall Break is fast approaching and going home for the holiday may be difficult for those who depend on airlines.

According to recent government statistics, airlines had their worst August in 13 years regarding late departures from airports around the country. For the savvy and budget-crunched university student, spending up to six hours on an airport tarmac awaiting take-off is not the quickest or cheapest way to get home. But this is the United States of America, and Eisenhower helped put in place a highway system unparalleled since the fall of ancient Rome. Long distance homeward-bound drivers are back with a vengeance.

Flights are often expensive, and after sitting in security and cattle-call lines, the hours spent in an airport often equal or exceed the time spent in a car headed to the same destination. For college students, owning a car is the perfect opportunity to get home in a fast and potentially cheap manner.

Though gas prices continue to spike, depressing SUV owners and money-conscience students alike, the prices can be balanced for the long-haul student with a backseat. All that is required to counteract the rising fuel costs is a friend or two to ride along and split the bills-and perhaps the driving. A problem arises in finding such friends on a college campus boasting more than 10,000 students from all corners of the country.

Ride shares are a common solution to the cost of travel, but often students find themselves riding alone when they are unable to find another student to share the ride. Students who live in the Chicago area and attend SLU do not necessarily know each other, and thus a potential ride share is lost to ignorance. The University has the opportunity to intervene here.

If the University were to set up a ride-share program using a website or online forum as the primary venue, students would be able to seek out other students traveling or wishing to travel in the same direction. In fact, SGA recently unveiled its SLU Connection website (www.sluconnection.com), which would serve as a perfect location for a ride share system to be implemented.

Not only does a ride-share program emphasize the use of a carpool system, reducing the number of cars on the road and their subsequent exhaust, but it also encourages interaction among students. And considering the current airline situation-dealing with all the lines and energy-sapping delays-and the time inefficient Amtrak, taking a road trip home may be cheaper and faster. Drive on, students, drive on.