Is University of Illinois Hiding an Obama Scandal? Politicians Blacked Out of Documents

The Chicago Tribune has an editorial on the scandal brewing in Illinois:

Tribune reporter Jodi S. Cohen had asked for records of communications by state legislators and university trustees about student applicants to the state's flagship university. She also wanted to know whether the applicants discussed in those communications were admitted.

She was looking for -- and eventually got -- proof that the U. of I. maintained a shadow admissions process through which hundreds of well-connected applicants got preferential treatment because of interference by trustees, lawmakers, lobbyists and other state officials.

The ongoing series, "Clout Goes to College," doesn't identify the applicants. Cohen didn't ask for their names, nor did she expect they would be released. The privacy provisions White alludes to require the university to redact identifiers such as names and Social Security numbers before releasing the documents.

But the 1,800 pages of documents eventually surrendered by the university went far beyond that. Applicants' test scores, grades and class ranks were blacked out, for example. That information wouldn't identify specific students, but it would show how far the rules were bent to admit them.

Is the University of Illinois covering up for Barack Obama?