March Madness has arrived, which can only mean one thing – sky-high ticket prices. Welcome to the economic world of supply and demand.There are plenty of big basketball games coming up in the next couple of weeks. The major conferences are having their tournaments, and the NCAA road to the Final Four will commence a few days after that. Anyone wanting to go to these games certainly can, but they have to ask themselves, is it worth it. Worth is a relative term, and it is this word that the ticket brokers, or scalpers, rely on to make their living. Tickets are always available — for a price. Some people would pay almost any price to see the Cyclones play in the Big 12 tournament in Kansas City because it is “worth” it to them. Others would not give a dime for a ticket because the ticket holds no value to them, it is merely a piece of paper.Tickets for the Big 12 tournament have a face value of $180. Good luck finding them for that now. Devoted fans will pay almost anything to see their team in post-season play. I paid a visit to www.ticketsnow.com, which is a bigtime Internet ticket broker. They were listing decent, single- seat tickets to the championship Big 12 game for over $1,500. That is just one ticket! The funny thing is that somebody will probably buy that ticket. Consider yourself lucky if you have class with Jake Sullivan or Shane Powers — you can watch them learn for free.There are many who believe that scalping tickets should be an illegal practice. I am not one of them. People who engage in that profession are no different from electricians and plumbers. They possess something we need, and in order to receive their services, we have to pay what they dictate. If you don’t want to, then you either don’t go to the game, or your toilet stays clogged. The business of reselling tickets for a profit is just as much as an American practice of capitalism as any other profession we deem legitimate. Different institutions and states take different approaches to dealing with tickets scalpers. In Iowa, there is no law regulating the resale of tickets for a higher price. The sky’s the limit. However, in Missouri, where the Big 12 basketball tournament will take place, there is a law that puts a limit on how much over the face value you can sell tickets for. Ebay helps enforce this policy by shutting down auctions that originate in states where the scalping laws are being broken. The police outside of Kemper Arena try their best to keep an eye out for scalpers. Most times though, cops just look the other way. Last year at the NCAA tournament in Minneapolis, cops simply sent scalpers across to the street to hawk their tickets. It is illegal to scalp on the grounds of the Metrodome, but not 50 feet away across the street.Last year I had an opportunity to buy tickets to Iowa State’s first two games for the NCAA’s in Minneapolis. I bought four books of tickets for $600. A week later I had sold all of them for $1200. You do the math. This business puts food on the table. When Iowa State advanced to the Elite Eight last year, the ISU ticket office tried their best to prevent any shady dealings. Any student who purchased a ticket through the box office for the game against Michigan St., in Michigan, had to personally pick up their ticket at the box office in Michigan with their student ID. This virtually stopped any possible attempts to scalp tickets.Not only do I believe that scalping tickets should be legal, I think they are providing a valuable service. In a tournament with the mass appeal of the Big 12, tickets sell out fast. The law of supply and demand suggests that even if you want tickets to a game, they may get sold out before you can get your smiling face to the ticket window. Ticket scalpers will get you the tickets that you couldn’t get for yourself. It is foolish for people to think that they are getting ripped off by having to pay more than face value. The supply has run out, but the demand is still very much alive. Just like anything else in the marketplace, the price of the product will reflect the demand.Although I have used the term repeatedly, I believe the word scalper needs to be retired. It implies that a serious injustice or savage act is being committed. You have a choice whether or not you want to buy a ticket, while you don’t have a choice to get your toilet fixed. Let’s start referring to plumbers as scalpers.Ticket brokers are your link to every event imaginable. You can even go to the World Series or the Super Bowl if your wallet is heavy enough. Without brokers, these events would be sold out to people like us. With brokers, nothing is ever sold out.My recommendation to anyone who is wanting to attend an ISU tournament game is to do their homework. There are tickets available from a wide variety of sources. You are only a couple of clicks away from seats to the game. If all else fails e-mail me, I may just have a few tickets lying around.Marcus Charter is a sophomore in journalism and mass communication from Ames.