As our country prepares for war many students are calling out for peace. This compassion should also be channeled into helping our fellow man in acts of good will.

A good start would be signing up for one of the spring break trips sponsored by the Religious Life Council. Unfortunately, due to lack of interest, three out of six service trips were cancelled this year.

The service trips cost around $60-$80, a pretty inexpensive price for a road trip. Students who don’t have the money in their bank accounts could ask friends and family for donations to fund a spring break with a purpose other than lying drunk on a beach.

Most of the service trips are far from involving challenging labor, yet provide people in need with the most valuable thing of all, your time. Nearly anyone can box up canned goods to send to developing countries or help out at a women’s shelter doing miscellaneous tasks.

Spring break service trips are not all work and no play either. Students headed on the Nuevo Progresso mission trip will have a free day on South Padre Island.

Some students are lucky, or rather rich enough, to escape Iowa for some fun in the sun over break. But the majority of us head home and mope around while our friends at the state schools are still in classes. For those of us in the latter group, it may be too late to sign up for the three service trips already canceled, but give serious thought to signing up for one of the remaining trips.