LUV YA!! THANK U!!>/a> :>)

LUV YA!! THANK U!!>/a> :>)

She just needs to make sure to hire a Black nanny to do that baby's hair. I'm tired of seeing beautiful Black girls being adopted by the Angelina's and the Madonna's and having their hair looking any ole how. They need to respect that our hair requires a different kind of maintenance. Actually, I think I react so strongly to the hair especially because it is something that we as Black women share. It makes us different from everyone else.

I bleed Orange and Blue, but this embarassing. I moved to NY just time. Then again, there was a coup in Albany this week so….

Clout list really is nothing new though. Dubya in Yale anyone?

Clout goes to college
Rezko relative is among those admitted to U. of I. in shadow system influenced by trustees and other insiders
By Jodi S. Cohen, Stacy St. Clair and Tara Malone | Tribune reporters
May 29, 2009

At a time when it's more competitive than ever to get into the University of Illinois, some students with subpar academic records are being admitted after interference from state lawmakers and university trustees, a Tribune investigation has revealed.

Hundreds of applicants received special consideration in the last five years, according to documents obtained by the Tribune under the state's Freedom of Information Act. The records chronicle a shadow admissions system in which some students won spots at the state's most prestigious public university over the protests of admissions officers, while others had their rejections reversed during an unadvertised appeal process.

In one case, a relative of Antoin “Tony” Rezko, the now-convicted influence peddler for former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, got admitted after U. of I. President B. Joseph White wrote an e-mail stating that the governor “has expressed his support, and would like to see admitted” Rezko's relative and another applicant.

White's message to the university chancellor was passed on to admissions officials on the same day they entered a rejection decision for the Rezko relative. “He's actually pretty low,” replied an admissions officer, referring to the applicant's ACT score and other credentials. “Let me know when the denial letter can go out.”

Instead, the relative was admitted.

Since 2005, about 800 undergraduate students have landed on the clout list for the Urbana-Champaign campus. It's unknown how many would qualify for entry on their own, but their acceptance rate is higher than average. For the 2008-09 school year, for example, about 77 percent were accepted, compared with 69 percent of all applicants.

That's in spite of the fact that patronage candidates, as a group, had lower average ACT scores and class ranks than all admitted students, records show.

In 2008, for example, freshmen on average ranked in the 88th percentile in their high school class, while clouted students ranked in the 76th percentile.

High school counselors and admissions experts said letting clout affect admissions compromises the integrity of the university.

“Whether it's [a Rezko relative] or any other kid who takes a spot, he typically takes a spot of someone who is more qualified. That's the part that gets my blood boiling,” said Jim Conroy, a New Trier Township High School college counselor. “This is not a private institution. This is yours and mine. Our flagship state university should not be part of any political shenanigans.”

President White said it's not unusual for selective universities to receive input on applicants from interested parties, and it's important to have a system to track the requests. The additional information can help the admissions office make a more informed decision, he said — though the university discourages applicants from sending letters of recommendations, saying on its Web site that “sending unsolicited materials can be distracting.”

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-co...

shocker.

lolol