A recent court ruling and the resulting actions of the Federal Communications Commission have brought the sporadically-debated issue of net neutrality back into the limelight. First, some background:

Comcast, currently the nation’s largest provider of high-speed Internet access, got in trouble with the FCC in 2008 for intentionally throttling certain user connections. Specifically, Comcast throttled peer-to-peer services (BitTorrent being the predominant one) on the grounds that they take up massive amounts of bandwidth and are more often than not used for illegal sharing of copyrighted materials. Comcast’s customers complained to the FCC (why they didn’t complain to Comcast instead is beyond me), which slapped Comcast with an order to desist in discriminating against particular kinds of network traffic. Since then, however, the U.S. Court of Appeals has unanimously ruled that this action goes beyond the authority of the FCC. Specifically, the FCC only has the authority to regulate telecommunications services, whereas broadband Internet is currently classified as an information service.

Since the ruling, the FCC has made it clear that it has no intention of losing its ability to regulate broadband. Strictly speaking, the FCC has the power to reclassify broadband Internet if it wants to (it was the FCC itself that originally classified broadband as an information service); however, it will have to find a solid legal basis to do so lest it embroils itself in another stodgy legal battle.

Some U.S. senators (mostly Democrats) have stated their support for this reclassification, though they’ve made it clear that Congress is unwilling to get heavily involved in the net neutrality debate at this time. The Open Internet Coalition, an organization of heavily-invested Internet companies such as Google, Amazon and Facebook, is lobbying strongly for the FCC to enact this classification change.

On the other side of the equation, Comcast and other large telecommunications companies have hinted that they will once again bring suit if the FCC tries to reclassify their industry once again. Given that, in 2005, the Supreme Court ruled 8-1 in favor of the FCC’s classification of broadband as an information service, the legal battle that comes out of a reclassification is bound to be fierce and protracted.

This classic match-up of over-powered corporation versus self-righteous government is an oft-repeated one; railroads, airlines, radio, telephones, etc., have all gone through similar legal turmoil in their respective eras. But net neutrality is something of an enigma. To the casual observer, it appears that every sane person is on the same side; after all, who would want a non-neutral Internet? And most people do agree that net neutrality is something that they want. The problem, as with most difficult debates, is in the terminology; people don’t agree on what net neutrality actually is.

First, there is market-regulated net neutrality. Under this system, some corporation that provides Internet access (an Internet service provider, or ISP) has the ability to selectively direct your Internet usage — they can block particular sites, they can affect your search results, what have you. As part of the contract you sign, they agree to provide some service as they define it, not necessarily as you envision it should be. To demand net neutrality in such a case is to say to the ISP, “Look, you have to give me unhindered access, and you need to be able to convince me that you will provide unhindered access, or else I will not pay you.” This is similar to refusing to buy a lemon from a used car dealer or a rotten lemon from a grocery store; if it’s not the product you want, you don’t buy it.

Second, there is government-regulated net neutrality. Under this system, the government ensures that all ISPs behave by the official standard of what constitutes unhindered Internet access. Under current proposals, this includes stipulations about things like customer rights as well as requiring telecommunications companies to share their bandwidth. And, of course, with government regulation generally comes censorship, as it has with television and radio. This case, then, is comparable to the government requiring used car dealers to only sell cars of a certain standard quality, or only allowing grocery stores to keep produce on the shelf for some maximum length of time.

Which of these two options, then, is the better one? The first option is riskier, since you lack a guarantee (or a scapegoat, depending on how you look at it) that the product you’re purchasing is in fact what you expect it to be; however, the market has the ability to freely provide the services customers want. The second option eliminates the risk but at the cost of more government regulation and, inevitably, higher taxes. (Corruption and graft are also a threat, but let’s give the government the benefit of the doubt here.) So we’re essentially choosing between efficiency and security; the nature of government interaction in an otherwise free market necessarily creates that trade-off.

Finding a balance between the efficiency of freedom and the security of regulation is pretty much impossible. Both angles have merit, and both corporations and government have their motives, good or bad, to prefer their option. The problem as usual is that people want to have their cake and eat it too.

They want all the great service and cheap costs that a competitive market provides, but they also want the ability to complain to the government when they don’t get the services they want. As with any industry, it eventually comes down to that choice of freedom or security. Which will you favor?

Arne Duncan, the U.S. Secretary of Education, will give the keynote address at this year’s U. Richmond Commencement, the university announced earlier this month.

A Harvard U. graduate whose career spans from playing professional basketball in Australia to running Chicago’s public schools, Duncan has been in the education field since 1992, when he ran the Ariel Education Initiative, a program dedicated to improving educational opportunities for students in Chicago’s South Side.

Many factors go into selecting a commencement speaker.

“We want someone who is recognizable, informative and uplifting,” said Steven Allred, university provost and chair of the speaker selection committee.

“The speaker is someone who should not only be appropriate, but also challenging,” Allred said. “We were impressed with what he did in the Chicago public schools.”

Duncan’s speech is expected to focus on preparing students for a changing world through personal development and a liberal arts education.

He will give his address at a time of uncertain economic recovery, with job markets still tight and the unemployment rate at 9.7 percent with almost 30 million Americans out of work.

Previous Commencement speakers have included Ed Rendell, former chair of the Democratic National Committee, and Tim Kaine, former governor of Virginia.

The university’s Commencement will be held in the Robins Center on May 9th.

For U. Kentucky men’s assistant basketball coach Rod Strickland, the fourth time should be the charm.

According to an April 12 Kernel article, Strickland was arrested on April 11 for his fourth drunken driving incident, among other charges. This is unacceptable.

As a former NBA player and assistant coach under John Calipari, Strickland is in the public eye at all times. He is a role model to kids across the  country, working closely with some of UK’s best student-athletes on a daily basis.

The last thing these kids and athletes need is to be looking up to someone who has alcohol abuse problems. It seems as if Strickland doesn’t realize he’s someone people strive their whole lives to be, nor has he fully embraced his mentoring role.

That said, UK athletics needs to do one of two things.

One option is to fire Strickland. Sure, he was a great point guard in the NBA which makes him valuable for recruiting, but the athletic department needs to do what’s right for the student-athletes and the school’s overall image. UK is a university with a zero-tolerance alcohol policy, and it can’t have such a high-profile employee behaving in this manner — especially with the alcohol-related incidents students are involved in.

If the athletic department does choose to keep Strickland on the payroll, he needs help.

Some type of treatment seems to be necessary —one DUI may be a mistake, but four scream there is a problem. Get Strickland help. Alcohol abuse is a serious problem, and if proper intervention isn’t taken to help resolve the alcohol issues, at the very least allocate part of his salary for a full-time driver.

Maybe it’s the constant, overwhelming pressure to succeed in college basketball causing coaches at UK to behave inappropriately, but the administration cannot sit back and pretend this didn’t happen because of a famous name and celebrity status.

Todd Miller slowly positions the head of the body between plastic blocks as Curtis Foley makes a 2-inch incision on the neck near the collar bone. Miller then digs beneath the skin, grasps the carotid artery and jugular vein and pulls them toward the surface, tying them together to ensure easy access for later. Foley makes a tiny cut for a tube to enter each vessel.

Meanwhile, Miller closes the corpse’s eyes. He uses plastic eye caps lined with a texture similar to Velcro to affix the eyeball to the lid. This prevents the eyes from sinking into the skull and keeps the eyelids from dehydrating.

Miller washes the body several times with heavy-duty disinfectant soap and water and massages the body to loosen the muscles, reversing the effects of rigor mortis.

He runs his hands along the arteries, preparing them to be emptied of blood.

In the world of morticians, this process is called “setting the features.” Once embalming fluid is added, the body will stiffen into position — the position it’ll stay in until it’s buried.

This body, like most of those that are embalmed, is destined for a plush casket, a fancy outfit and plenty of makeup and refinement, all before being placed in the ground and topped off with an elegant headstone.

It’s here, lying on a shiny metal table under the care of morticians like Foley and Miller, that most of us will eventually wind up. Roughly 2.5 million Americans die each year, and about 2 million of them will be embalmed, according to the National Funeral Directors Association. Though overwhelmingly popular in U.S. funerals, embalming is performed on only a fraction of the world’s newly dead.

Although conventional embalming and burying the dead remains the most popular choice in this country, recent years have shown a shift toward different methods to dispose of America’s dead. Today, the bodies of about one-third of Americans are cremated after death, perhaps the most significant change in consumer preference.

Though no concrete numbers exist, industry experts estimate that 10,000 bodies are donated to science each year. Movements toward green burials and home funerals and burials are emerging, creating a simpler and significantly cheaper transition from life. In some cases, these emerging practices reject America’s idea of a conventional funeral.

For those dealing with loss, navigating the world of death care can be a daunting and expensive task. Critics say many people avoid planning for death until it happens, leading to uninformed consumers and a system susceptible to abuse.

It’s a problem many have faced. For one U. Kansas professor, the experience of arranging funerals for her father and two grandparents during her time of grief left her feeling so unprepared and frustrated that she devoted much of her research and writing to the topic. She now teaches a course on death and dying to help students prepare for and understand death.

In the embalming room at Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home in Lawrence, Kan., Miller and Foley are covered head to toe in protective gear. They each wear thick, blue rubber gloves, non-absorbent gowns and plastic protective masks.

Bodies often leak. Vomit and bile are prone to purging through the mouth. Without muscles tightly holding everything in place, feces can spill onto the table.

The embalming room, behind a heavy metal door in the basement, looks more like an operating room for the living than a place to care for the dead. Each of the two adjustable tables is lined with a guttering system, positioned near cabinets and shelves that store sterile-looking utensils, creams and chemicals.

Foley, with four years under his belt as a licensed funeral director and embalmer, has this process down to a fine art. Miller is still a student, and he’s working to get his state license. But first, he must complete a mandatory apprenticeship. He’s not allowed to embalm a body himself, but he assists wherever possible. In three years working at Rumsey-Yost, Miller has watched and participated in this process at least 100 times.

With the corpse washed, the muscles loosened and the hair freshly rinsed with Head and Shoulders shampoo, the two begin the embalming process.

Foley attaches plastic tubes to the incisions on the carotid and jugular. The tubes lead to the embalming machine, which holds several gallons of embalming fluid. The mixture is made of formaldehyde and contains perfumes and dyes. Without blood in the body, the skin will be pale white.

The machine will pump for about 90 minutes, acting almost like a heart for the deceased’s circulatory system. One tube pushes the potion into the body, where it streams through every artery, vessel, vein and capillary. The other tube drains the blood, which is dumped into the sewer system like dirty bath water.

After the blood is replaced by preservative, the artery and vein are tied off, and Foley stitches the incisions closed. The wounds will later be masked by makeup and cream, leaving no evidence of the operation they’ve performed.

Miller then grabs a trocar, a metal tool used to poke a hole near the navel. The trocar is attached to a suction tube, which draws the remaining fluid out of the cavities. It punctures each organ, releasing its contents such as gas, bile and bodily fluids.

No one wants a solemn funeral service interrupted by the gurgling sounds of settling gas in Grandma’s tummy.

The tool then injects more embalming fluid through the puncture site, preserving the body’s innards. The puncture wound is sealed, and the body is given time to rest.

Embalming bodies this way didn’t become popular until well into the 20th century.

Before that, the funeral and burial took place at home or church. Embalming started during the Civil War as a means of preserving and shipping the bodies of fallen Union soldiers back to their Northern homes.

Although embalming made sense to allow for time to transport bodies before the development of refrigeration and high-speed travel, now environmentalists and industry watchdogs are questioning the practicality, the high costs and the environmental effects of the tradition.

When a lengthy journey of a decomposing corpse ceased to be a problem, undertakers touted embalming as a safeguard for public health. Not many diseases can survive in a body steeped in formaldehyde.

But scientists have since discovered that, except in the rarest cases, a dead body poses little risk to the health of the living. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now maintains that embalming serves no benefit to public health.

But now it’s thought that embalming is detrimental to public health. In 2009, research from the National Cancer Institute linked embalming fluid’s active ingredient, formaldehyde, which is classified as a known carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, to myeloid leukemia. The study proved what many had suspected for years: Funeral directors who embalm over an extended period of time have an increased risk of contracting cancer.

Embalming also poses a problem for environmentalists, who can only guess what long-term effects toxic formaldehyde has on the Earth.

Funeral directors now pay close attention to the health debate, if only because evidence suggests their work environment may be accelerating their own need for a funeral.

After release of the National Cancer Institute’s findings, the National Funeral Directors Association updated its list of Formaldehyde Best Management Practices, which suggests increasing ventilation, limiting exposure to formaldehyde and using a less concentrated mixture of embalming fluid.

Still, no federal regulations or industry-wide changes have been implemented since the research was published.

“If there was a serious risk with embalming, the government wouldn’t allow it,” said Pam Scott, executive director of the Kansas Funeral Directors Association.

The Environmental Protection Agency has yet to take a stance on embalming, but it does note that formaldehyde can cause cancer “within the respiratory or GI tract after inhalation or oral exposure.”

It’s estimated that Americans annually bury more than 827,000 gallons of embalming fluid — enough to overflow an Olympic size swimming pool — across America’s 22,500 cemeteries, along with nearly 93,000 tons of steel, copper and bronze and 30 million board feet of hardwoods from caskets.

LIVING THE GREEN LIFE — AND DEATH

The government’s inaction on the matter has caused environmental activists to create their own organization to promote more environmentally friendly ways of disposing of the dead, said Joe Sehee, executive director of the nonprofit Green Burial Council.

The council has enlisted the help of 300 funeral homes across the nation to begin offering green burials that do not use embalming or other traditional but wasteful materials, such as metal caskets and granite and marble headstones.

“It’s really the energy that goes into all this that is most worrisome,” Sehee said.

The council has created criteria for evaluating whether a cemetery is green and how green it is.

Lawrence is home to Kansas’ only green cemetery. It’s actually a smaller, wooded section of the city-operated Oak Hill Cemetery in East Lawrence near 15th and Elmwood streets. At Oak Hill, regular burials and green burials cost the same. Each plot costs $700 in addition to a $640 to $1,100 fee for digging and covering the grave. Embalmed bodies and caskets that use metal or glues can’t be buried in the green section.

“We think green burial is a traditional burial,” Sehee said. “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust is a concept that’s been with us a lot longer.”

Despite the amount of national press coverage, green burials in Lawrence haven’t been that popular. Only three individuals have chosen to have a green burial here since it became an option in January 2009. In 2009, 225 bodies were buried in Lawrence’s three cemeteries.

Environmentalists also want to change the types of embalming fluids used.

Some formaldehyde-free embalming fluids have been introduced into the market, but they’re not widely used. Even crematoria, the ovens used to burn the human body into a gravel-like consistency of bones and ashes known as cremains, are being eyed for more energy-efficient upgrades.

Some critics decry the release of greenhouse gases and mercury from dental work that pours out of the ovens, which burn at temperatures close to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Some have suggested that morticians start removing metal dental work from the deceased before cremation.

Though the release of carbon dioxide from crematoria isn’t easy on the environment, experts say less overall energy is expended in cremation than in traditional burial. Nonetheless, the Green Burial Council is working to promote more energy-efficient crematoria and is looking at ways to install filters on existing crematoria.

THE MEMORY PICTURE

The ancient Egyptians believed the dead were capable of taking their bodies and possessions with them into the afterlife, making preservation of the earthly body a necessity. Thousands of years later, that idea is all but extinct in mainstream society. But funeral directors have still found a way to sell the value of embalming.

They maintain that viewing the restored, preserved body helps mourners cope with the loss.

“I wonder why it’s not popular in other places like it is here,” said Patty Dardis, a veteran funeral director at Rumey-Yost.

Dardis said she found that when she lost loved ones, viewing the body provided closure for her, just as it does for other survivors.

“Seeing is believing,” she said.

That’s not to say that embalming is required to view the body.

Most states do not require embalming except in special circumstances. In some states, including Kansas, embalming is required for interstate shipping of the body. Some funeral homes may require embalming for open-casket funerals or public viewings. But most will still allow the family a private viewing of the body even if it’s not embalmed.

Popularized in industry trade publications, the concept of the “memory picture” is how morticians continue to sell the art of temporary preservation. The embalmer is not only looking to preserve the body, but is also trying to create a positive last image for loved ones.

Through restorative art, as it’s called within the industry, nearly all physical imperfections of the live human body can be erased.

No longer does Grandma look frail from months of illness. The woman who was mutilated in an automobile accident suddenly looks as if she avoided any injury at all. Even a decapitated cadaver can be altered to look whole again.

This restoration, funeral directors argue, provides a positive psychological effect for grievers that can’t be realized in immediate burial, direct cremation or green burial.

This “memory picture” concept benefits the funeral industry financially. Not only do undertakers charge a fee — in Lawrence it ranges between $550 and $675 just for the embalming — but they make even more money on the accompanying casket and service.

“Number one, once they pretty up the body, they can probably sell you a more expensive casket. So you’ve got to follow the dollar here,” said Lisa Carlson, an outspoken critic of the funeral industry and author of the books “Caring for the Dead: Your Final Act of Love” and “I Died Laughing: Funeral Education with a Light Touch.”

FUNERAL FLAK

Carlson, the former executive director of the Funeral Consumers Alliance, a nonprofit that educates families of the deceased about their rights, is a leader in the recent movement toward caring for the dead at home. In all but a handful of states, it’s legal to care for the dead, hold a home funeral and even perform a burial within the privacy of your own home. In Kansas, home burial is legal, but it is subject to county regulations.

Carlson argues that the funeral industry has long taken advantage of customers, who are vulnerable because of their grief. Morticians can essentially charge whatever they like for their services, creating “a system that invites abuse,” she said.

But consumers are partially to blame. Americans shy away from planning for death, which cripples their decision-making when death and grief arrive.

“People don’t want to talk about it, and they don’t want to think about it,” said Tracey LaPierre, assistant professor of sociology and assistant research scientist in the U. Kansas Gerontology Center.

The loss of her father and two grandfathers back in Canada while she was a graduate student here in the U.S. sparked LaPierre’s initial interest in the funeral industry. Her interest quickly turned into a passionate research topic. She’s now one of the few KU professors knowledgeable in thanatology, the study of the social and psychological implications of death. She teaches the course “Sociology of Death and Dying.”

Her father’s death in a car accident was the first death of a close family member she experienced. The tragedy left her with a list of decisions she was unprepared to make.

Would he have preferred cremation or burial?

Did he want a religious ceremony?

What songs would he want played at the funeral?

In her class, LaPierre preaches the importance of making one’s wishes known through wills, advanced directives and dialogue with family, which can help avoid these lingering questions. Open discussion and understanding of death is perhaps one of the best ways to prepare for and cope with loss. Yet, she, like many people, still hasn’t made her own final wishes known on paper.

“I’m just as susceptible as everyone else,” she said. “You always think there will be more time tomorrow.”

The whole experience of her father’s death is a blur, but she remembers one thing.

“Honestly, price wasn’t an issue,” she said. “We didn’t even care.”

In retrospect, it probably wasn’t a good idea to dish out thousands of dollars for a fancy casket. But at the moment, the pressure to act quickly and demonstrate her love for her father trumped reason and practicality, she said.

The experience of planning a funeral, coupled with her in-depth study, has left her a much more enlightened consumer. She suggests planning ahead and never being afraid to shop around or to leave a funeral home that doesn’t treat you well.

The Funeral Consumers Alliance maintains that an abundance of funeral homes and undertakers in many states has caused an oversaturated market and higher costs for consumers. In Kansas, the Alliance estimates a need for only 99 funeral homes, but 326 funeral homes are currently in operation.

“They’re fighting over dead bodies in many areas,” Carlson said.

Lawrence is home to three funeral homes, two of which are equipped to perform cremations. About 500 people die each year in Douglas County.

Even critics aren’t predicting the death of the death care industry. Neither Carlson nor Sehee foresee the extinction of the traditional American funeral anytime soon.

“Home schooling never put the schools out of business. Home births never put the OB/GYNs out of business. Home funerals aren’t going to put the funeral directors out of business,” Carlson said. “But they may have to start selling homeowners insurance on the side or refinish antiques or something.”

THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT

The job of undertaker is a lot like a doctor — always on call.

But in this business, no one is ever saved.

At Rumsey-Yost, Todd Miller and other students trade off nights sleeping in a small room on the third floor. When a nursing home, hospital or family calls, they throw on a suit and tie and quickly retrieve the dead.

Miller moves the corpse onto a stretcher and covers it in a maroon velvet body bag. Overnight, the body will stay in the coolness of the basement until Foley or another embalmer arrives in the morning.

Only a few feet away are the two options — the crematory and the entrance to the embalming room. Not a long journey.

Local funeral homes see this 24/7 service as part of their duty in serving bereaved families.

“We’re always here,” funeral director Patty Dardis said. “It doesn’t matter if we were just sitting down to Christmas dinner.”

Dardis says funeral directors must find a way to separate grief and sorrow at work from the happiness of home life, just as doctors can’t bring every patient’s illness home with them.

To the embalmers, this level of separation is also vital to their success.

After letting the body firm up, Foley and Miller now set out to beautify the corpse — the last step.

Once the cadaver is completely sealed, the two dress the body, usually in clothes picked out by the family. Underwear, socks and a bra are all draped on the deceased. No detail is left out. The shirt, jacket or dress is cut down the back to make manipulating the stiff arms easier. The same goes for the pants. The shoes can also be cut if there’s any trouble getting them on.

The face and hands are then stained a more lifelike color. They fix the hair just as the person wore it in life and apply makeup. A lift lowers the body from the table into the casket, the head cradled by a plush pillow, tilted slightly to the right for easy viewing. The elbows rest on blocks hidden under the casket lining to keep the arms from falling. The hands are set on the abdomen, one over the other. The goal is to make the body look as though it’s enjoying peaceful sleep.

Miller says he treats every body as respectfully as if it were his own grandmother, but it’s not as if he is actually caring for a living person.

In the embalming room, Mr. Smith is no longer Mr. Smith. He’s an object to be preserved and dressed up.

Though they don’t know the person in the coffin, Miller and Foley take great care in this process. This is their gift to the family, the most important result of their labor.

Regardless of what critics say about embalming, cremation and the financial and environmental costs of the funeral industry, this is what a majority of grieving families choose.

Embalmed, buried, cremated or donated to medical science, the physical body remains the centerpiece of American death rituals. It allows them to grieve the loss of a loved one and perhaps to catch a glimpse of what inevitably waits in the future.

The truth is, this entire process isn’t for the dead.

In the end, the dead won’t see the embalming room in the basement. They won’t feel the blood being sucked out of their bodies or smell the formaldehyde as it’s pushed through their veins. They won’t feel the pain of sharp tools jabbing into their abdomens or the searing heat of the cremation oven.

They won’t enjoy the comfort of the lush, silky mattress that lines their polished coffin. They won’t see their precisely styled hair or marvel at the granite headstone over their grave.

By the time the mourners gather, the dead are no longer present, at least not in this world. But they have left behind remains for others to mourn and remember as the body is shown, the casket is closed and the grave covered with dirt.

No, this process is all for the living.

On Thursday night, Ndamukong Suh will finally hear his name called by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. He’ll throw on a ball cap, smoothly walk onto the stage of New York City’s Radio City Music Hall and shake his hand.

Suh will probably hold up his new NFL jersey alongside Goodell and pose for endless photos. He’ll do an interview with an ESPN personality, then get whisked off into a gauntlet of more photos and interviews.

He’ll likely sign his NFL contract in the not-so-distant future and spend the summer immersing himself into pro football and his new team.

Suh’s expected to be a top-three pick in tonight’s NFL Draft, and most experts predict the Detroit Lions will take him No. 2 overall or the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will nab him with the following pick.

His old team, meanwhile, will try and do the impossible this fall: Nebraska must find a way to replace Suh’s menacing, powerful presence on its defensive line.

Husker fans will long remember Suh for his countless memorable moments on the field.

The bulldozing of Cody Hawkins and the ankle-twisting destruction of Blaine Gabbert.

The utter domination and 4.5 sacks of Colt McCoy.

The Duckie formation.

His top-five finish in Heisman Trophy voting – and more importantly, the $2.6 million he’s giving back to his university – ensure he’ll forever be a Nebraska legend.

Suh helped bring Nebraska’s football program back onto the national scene and a second away from a Big 12 Conference championship.

“He helped open a lot of eyes to Nebraska,” fellow defensive tackle Terrence Moore said. “He helped put us back on the map and let people know we’re a force to be reckoned with.”

Stats aside, the impact Suh had on Nebraska’s defense during his time in Lincoln isn’t easy to measure, and it’s possible his true lasting influence won’t fully be realized until this fall when Nebraska’s defensive line takes the field without him.

To Suh, that line always mattered more than the individual accolades anyway.

“He cares about this D-line, this defense and the whole team,” fellow tackle Jared Crick said. “I feel the exact same way. I’m very happy for him for everything he’s done. He deserves it. But I know at the end of the day, Suh’s a team player and that’s all that matters.”

Though he became more vocal in his senior year, Suh was naturally a leader by example. The biggest thing Moore took away from his time around his superstar teammate was his professionalism.

“It’s about coming out every day with the attitude that you’ve got to work to get better,” he said. “Nothing’s going to be handed to you.”

Crick blossomed into a star this fall and will attempt to anchor the line this season, and the biggest lesson Suh taught him came off the field.

“It’s how much he studied for other teams,” Crick said. “He was constantly in the meeting room watching films, and when you watched with him you saw all the things he jotted down and how he prepares for offenses. We all took that to heart.”

Crick, Moore and potential starting defensive tackle Baker Steinkuhler have worked to adopt that aspect to their prep for each game, and in Crick’s words, they’ve become “film rats” during the offseason.

When Suh spoke with Jared Crick at a Husker practice this spring, his message was simple: ‘Do your thing.’

“With all the advice I’ve taken from him over his years here, he didn’t really have to tell me anything else,” Crick said. “I’ve learned everything I need to know from him.”

As much as Suh will be remembered for all the awards and national attention he brought Nebraska, his impact on his fellow Husker defenders will last long after he’s moved on to the NFL.

“Everybody, in their own way, learned a little something from him,” Moore said. “Suh was a great player and everybody can learn a thing or two from him.

“That’s why he’s in the position he’s in now, about to be a first-round pick and get all that money,” he said. “He was doing something right.”

Yuri Maltsev saw firsthand the dangers of a socialist government — at least, the kind of socialism practiced by the Soviet Union.

Born into a world of intense government control, the economics professor at Carthage College in Wisconsin said he seized the opportunity to defect from the Soviet Union in 1989.

“I was forced to graduate from the ‘University of Marxism’ in Moscow,” said Maltsev. “Russia went through a lot of hardships, and not many people in the West know about the devastation.”

The former economic adviser for the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev spoke to a U. Iowa audience of more than 100 Wednesday, warning about the rise of socialism in today’s economic world and how he said the same trend helped to impoverish Russia.

“We don’t realize the types of crimes and lies that are created because of socialism,” he said.

Freedom of choice and human rights is a big part of any country’s financial prosperity, he said, and the current Obama administration and many before it have practiced politics that alienate the general public. He said that the parallel to the current political economic involvement in the United States relates those held by Russia for nearly seven decades.

“If you look at economic freedoms, the U.S. is still a leader, but too big to fail?” Maltsev said. “This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard of. The Soviet Union was too big to fail.”

The U.S. government funds more than half of today’s health-care expenditures, he contended, and it echoes that of the failed Russian reform and will likely worsen the $14 trillion U.S. deficit.

“My four children already have their future mortgaged,” he said.

And though he was able to joke with the crowd composed mainly of UI students, he said he wants young people to know that socialism is not all it’s portrayed to be.

“This is a view that is appealing to young people, because it is also sold under the frame of social justice,” Maltsev said.

UI senior Jeff Shipley said he agrees with Maltsev’s take on the threat of socialism.

“We’re in a disturbing situation because the debt we have now is insurmountable and that makes me worry about the future,” Shipley said.

The economist’s views on the status of American politics drew opposition from some students.

“I think we can agree that what we have isn’t that good,” said Nathan Fritze, a UI graduate student. “But if someone is sick, they should have access to health care.”

Karen Kubby, a former Iowa City councilor, ran under the Socialist Party in early 1990s. She said many issues related to socialism are misunderstood.

“To me [socialism] means as a society we will agree on some level,” Kubby said. “We have a lot of elements of socialism in the states … some instances of a society I’d call ideal.”

In Kirk Ferentz’s 11 seasons as U. Iowa’s head football coach, he has seen eight offensive linemen get drafted by NFL teams.

One more will add his name to that list tonight, and two others could potentially follow suit over this weekend.

The premier Hawkeye this year is left tackle Bryan Bulaga, who decided to forgo his senior season the day after Iowa defeated Georgia Tech in the FedEx Orange Bowl.

Most prognosticators have the Crystal Lake, Ill., native being chosen somewhere in the draft’s top 10 tonight. If that happens, Bulaga would become the first Hawkeye chosen in the top 10 since Robert Gallery, also a Hawkeye left tackle when the Oakland Raiders selected him second overall in 2004.

Given Ferentz’s connection to some members of the Kansas City Chief organization, including general manager Scott Pioli, Kansas City could be a landing spot for Bulaga. The Chiefs have the fifth pick in the first round.

“The Chiefs have a clear need for an offensive tackle,” said Pro Football Weekly Associate Editor and former Daily Iowan reporter Dan Parr. “They might move Branden Albert to another spot on the interior line at guard, and that would clear up a spot for Bulaga to come in.

“I think that’s a team to keep your eye on if you’re an Iowa fan wondering where Bulaga is going to go. I think there’s a very good chance that he becomes a member of the Chiefs.”

Should Kansas City go a different route, as Wes Bunting of the National Football Post believes it will by selecting Tennessee safety Eric Berry, he among others believes Bulaga could be taken with the following pick (sixth overall) by the Seattle Seahawks, who saw longtime tackle Walter Jones retire during the off-season.

While Bulaga is in New York City awaiting NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to call his name this evening, two other linemen have a chance to be a part of potentially the biggest draft class produced by Iowa since the NFL draft went to seven rounds.

Like Bulaga, they both came to Iowa by way of Illinois. In fact, both linemen — Kyle Calloway and Dace Richardson — were members of the Hawkeyes’ well-known 2005 recruiting class.

Richardson said one of the biggest reasons he chose Iowa over other schools had to do with Ferentz’s reputation of working with offensive linemen, having been an offensive line coach for six seasons in the NFL, and before that, with the Hawkeyes.

“At the next level, everyone regards Coach Ferentz with high regard, and they know he can really develop offensive linemen,” Richardson said. “He really has a knowledge of developing guys when they’re young, and then at the end of their careers, they’re really good linemen.”

Calloway and Richardson won’t be selected in the first round. But neither were Eric Steinbach, Bruce Nelson, Ben Sobieski, Pete McMahon, Marshal Yanda, Mike Elgin, or Seth Olsen, all of whom have been drafted since 2003.

Whether those two are drafted, they, along with Bulaga, follow in the footsteps of these linemen. And that’s something that could eventually pay off.

“They come in, and they’re technically sound bodies, and that’s all you really need in the NFL,” Bunting said of Ferentz’s products up front. “You can maximize your strength and maximize your athleticism if you’re technically sound, and that’s something you know you’re getting from Iowa offensive linemen.”

When former Indiana U. offensive lineman Rodger Saffold III was a sixth grader in Bedford, Ohio, he told his father what he wanted to do with his life.

“‘I’d love to play in the NFL,’” Rodger II fondly remembered his son saying. “I said, ‘Well, if you want to do that, let’s sit down and figure out what we need to do to get you there.”

With today’s 2010 NFL Draft that dream becomes a reality.

Saffold, who after his senior season in Bloomington was regarded as second-day pick, has recently shot up the draft boards and is one of the top offensive line prospects available.

If selected in the first round, he will be the first IU player taken since wide receiver Thomas Lewis in 1994.

Saffold’s overall size, natural athleticism and above-average balance and agility have NFL general managers coveting the Hoosier. A starter at left tackle since midway through his freshman year, Saffold allowed only one sack in 2009.

But getting to this point hasn’t been easy.

Since the age of 12, Saffold followed a daily routine: go to school, then train for football. After classes, he would lift weights and condition at the Euclid Sports Plant, as well as work on his protection skills with other offensive lineman. He also attended Ohio State football camps for years.

By the time he reached high school in talent-rich Northeast Ohio, the transition from middle school competition wasn’t hard.

“When football came, it was almost easy to me,” Saffold said.

After starting at offensive tackle and defensive end for much of his career at Bedford High School, he finished his career on the 2005 first team All-Lake Erie League.
Though his skills on the field were remarkable, former Bedford coach Brian Staats marveled most at Saffold’s leadership ability.

“Especially his senior year, he really grew into a leadership role,” Staats said. “He would take the bull by the horns, so to speak. He really made sure guys did the right thing.”

When Saffold reached the college ranks, he wasn’t the prototypical offensive lineman. But according to IU coach Bill Lynch, his progression throughout four years was unmatched.

“He physically wasn’t the size you are looking for in a Big Ten tackle at the time, but you knew he was going to get bigger,” Lynch said. “As he has gone through the years, he has gotten bigger, stronger, worked very hard in the weight room and developed himself not only into a great college player but someone who could get drafted early in the NFL Draft.”

After earning many accolades during his senior season at IU, Saffold focused this offseason preparation on the draft.

He trained six days a week at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., to work on every aspect of his game.

In the East-West Shrine game — an all-star game featuring many of the nation’s top prospects — and the NFL Combine, his hard work was on full display.

In practices leading to the East-West game, Saffold dominated all individual drills and proved his skill against defensive linemen of other top conferences. During the NFL combine, his scores were among the highest of all offensive line participants.

“It showed that I could go against speed rushers and go against defensive ends from all over the country,” Saffold said. “That was definitely a big turning point.”

On Thursday night, Saffold will watch the NFL draft with family and friends at a local sports bar in Bedford. It will be a night, he said, he will never forget.

“It’s been a real process from beginning to end,” Saffold said. “Instead of looking at the final picture, I have to look at all of the things I’ve gone through to make it here. I’ve just taken it a little bit at a time.”

Right now, as the NFL continues to undergo major reformation with Commissioner Roger Goodell, the NBA is still putting off fixing its major problem.

The NFL has its overtime issues and character questions, while the NBA has the biggest rule flaw in all of sports — the age rule.

How many more DeMarcus Cousins, Derek Roses, Eric Gordons or Greg Odens will it take for Commissioner David Stern to realize what this rule is doing to — or really, taking away from — basketball.

With the age rule how it is, requiring prospective professional basketball players to be one year removed from high school graduation to enter the league, the NBA is really showing kids the easy way out.

One of the lesser-publicized side effects of this insane clause is that kids don’t even have to show up for classes during the second semester before they put their name in the draft. There’s no sense of liability.

Hey, show up for the fall semester, play your 30-40 games, sign your agent, pack your bags and adios — on to train for the pre-draft camp.
It’s just that simple, isn’t it?

Kids can go in with no motivation except to meet minimum grade-point average requirements — which at some of the premier programs require a decimal point and one figure — to succeed in the classroom. Is that what the NBA wants in its future employees?

Moreover, is that what it should want?

Here’s another brain-buster: Let’s say next year’s John Wall tears his ACL in an exhibition game against Northeastern State and kisses his career goodbye.
That one year of college was forced upon him, thus bypassing guaranteed money in marketing, contractual and endorsement deals. Remember that in the NBA, teams are liable for their players’ contracts, unlike the NFL.

You’d have to have a Johnnie Cochran-esque argument to convince me that those three-and-a-half months living in a dorm and risking millions upon millions was worth it, especially given the fact that legitimate one-and-dones can compete at the highest level right out of high school. There’s always a player’s post-career for coming back and finishing a degree.

What about the maturity aspect? Sending these types of players to college for one year or one semester makes them immature in many cases.

Think about everything coming along with the decision to go pro, with which agent to sign, what outfitter to bring on and countless other questions.

Is that player really thinking about the team?

Jermaine O’Neal said it best back during his time with the Pacers when he said if an 18-year-old man can go overseas and fight and die for his country, he should be able to make money playing professional basketball.

Look at it from college coaches’ perspectives. Rebuilding has been taken to a whole new level. There are the John Caliparis of the world who will always recruit the types of players that will opt for the draft after their freshman year. There’s no consistency from year to year, no cohesiveness.

Right now, the NBA has to make this giant step forward and spare us all from these wasted few months we watch these superstars suit up in the amateur ranks.

It’s the biggest problem on the NBA’s plate, and now it’s time to fix it.