There's an admissions furor at the University of Illinois.

The university announced this week the suspension of its "clout" list, an admissions list of students with shaky academic credentials nonetheless being pushed by legislators, wealthy alums or other people of influence.

A Chicago Tribune report has shined some light on the issue, revealing that over the last five years, undeserving applicants gained entry to the university's main campus in Urbana-Champaign due to the sway of trustees or legislators.

Read all about it here.

According to Dan Pompei of the Chicago Tribune, North Carolina wide receiver Hakeem Nicks scored 11 out of a possible 50 on the Wonderlic test given to NFL prospects.

Players must answer 50 questions in 12 minutes for the test, which measures problem-solving ability. NFL teams look for receivers to score about 18.

Michael Crabtree of Texas Tech, perhaps the top wideout in the draft, scored a 15. Florida's Percy Harvin scored a 14. Pompei's piece looked a few scores at other positions as well.

At lunchtime on Wednesdays, it's hard not to smile at Purdue University.

Cameron Brown and Brett Westcott will seeto it.

Brown and Westcott are known on campus as The Compliment Guys. They stand at a central walkway each Wednesday from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. and unabashedly shout compliments to everyone they see.

The Chicago Tribune profiled the duo recently. A snippet:

"The duo fire off the compliments so quickly that an attempt to count a minute's worth was unsuccessful. There were at least 40. They liked headphones. Bikes. Gloves, earmuffs and scarves. A floral backpack. And even a lanyard.

If a tour group walks by, they try to comment on everyone in the crowd. On Wednesday, they told a professor to enjoy his coffee, thanked the groundskeepers for their hard work and prodded someone eating an apple to "stay nutritious."

 Here's the story.