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Every driver's pocket has recently felt the pain at the gas pump. Gas is currently over $2 per gallon, and the prices seem to climb every day. According to the yesterday's Fort Worth Star Telegram article, "Oil tops Saudi meeting agenda," gas prices have increased by 28 percent over the past three months, and this rise is due to worldwide demands for oil.

President George W. Bush met with Crown Prince Abdullah from Saudi Arabia at Bush's ranch yesterday to discuss the rising cost of fuel. Though AP photos show the two strolling the grounds holding hands, the meeting did not produce the lovey-dovey results our president hoped for. Though Bush and Abdullah discussed a long-term plan for increasing Saudi Arabia's oil output, no short-term solution for the exorbitant gas prices was discovered.

Even increased oil output from Saudi Arabia may not solve the problem in coming years. Yesterday, a conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, focused on the topic of peak oil, a theory that worldwide oil production follows a pattern of peak and decline. The International Energy Agency believes this peak will not happen before 2030. Speakers revealed that oil prices have not finished their ascent. According to Matthew Simmons, chairman of energy investment group Simmons & Company International, "Prices are going to go way higher."

We may not be able to stop the rising gas prices, but we can stop paying so much by buckling down and using other forms of transportation, such as walking or using bicycles. The Office of Commuter Services can arrange carpools for commuter students.

In addition, using mass transit will help us save our hard-earned pennies, as well as help relieve a little of the NT parking problem and Metroplex traffic hassles. For transportation around and off-campus, we have the e trans system. We have each paid to use these buses with our student fees, and we should take advantage of them. Link buses serve all of Denton, and these buses are free to NT students with valid student IDs.

Driving has become an expensive chore instead of the liberating fun it was when we were 16. The pumps are gobbling up our already-limited funds, and will probably continue to do so for the next few years. All we can do now is put our gears in park, leave the cars at home and hope for the best.

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