I sit here writing this column, already well past its deadline, at the end of one of my last semesters in college. As anyone who has gone to college surely knows, the end of the semester is one of the most stressful times for students, with all the papers, projects and exams culminating into one cluster of time-consuming stress.

When I am studying for a test or writing a paper, I often find myself becoming easily distracted, aimlessly surfing the Internet or mentally transporting myself to anywhere but in front of my computer or another textbook. And that was exactly what I was doing the other night.

Instead of writing a paper for a political science course dealing with the relations of race and class in the United States, I found myself on some random Web site. It was more daydreaming than really paying much attention to the actual site, but the important thing was that it wasnt my paper, anything but that paper.

So there I was, 1:45 in the morning, sitting in my recliner, computer in my lap and coffee in hand, just escaping. It was then that I thought of it, wouldnt it be great if I could actually escape that moment in time? Sure, I could hop in my car and drive somewhere, but at that hour and in the Minneapolis area, there werent many places to escape to. If only I could get out of here, if only I had a transporter.

Yes, a transporter.

Think about it. Instead of being stuck in front of my computer, writing a paper I had absolutely no desire to write, I could have found myself on some tropical island sipping a colorful cocktail with a piece of fresh fruit on the rim and one of those tiny umbrellas floating in the middle. Or perhaps I would go to some historic city in Europe, exploring the amazing sites, taking in all the culture. All of this within seconds.

Just think about the possibilities in a future with transporters. No more cars, no more planes, just walk on down to your neighborhood transporter pad and beam away. Transportation issues would be a thing of the past. No pollution from exhaust, no dependence on gasoline, no more unequal access to forms of transportation.

The high prices of property would no longer be such an issue. There wouldnt be such a demand to live in what are now the it places to live. Instead of living in a New York City condo that costs millions, I could travel the thousand and some miles instantaneously for a show and dinner, making back home in time for bed. A person could live where they want to, work where they want to, eat where they want to, distance would no longer be an issue for anything.

Sure, there would be problems with transporters, but at this moment, I dont care. All I want to do is escape these end of the semester blues and beam myself somewhere amazing.

Brian Meskimen is a columnist for Airlock Alpha writing out of Minnesota. He can be reached at bmeskimen@airlockalpha.com.

The Trek Within is a feature of Airlock Alpha, but also will soon be available on Roddenberry.com, the official Web site for the Roddenberry family maintained by Eugene W. Roddenberry Jr. Visit Roddenberry.com to read The Trek Within as well as a bonus feature from Airlock Alpha site coordinator Michael Hinman every other week.

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