WHY IT MATTERS. New Census reports describe what looks like America.

A better bellwether might be Illinois. It's the most average state, according to an Associated Press analysis of data from the Census Bureau.

Illinois is the fifth largest state, with a big city in Chicago, rolling countryside in the south and a lot of sprawling suburbs. And it has Peoria, which, it turns out, really is a barometer of America's preferences. Many companies continue to use the city in central Illinois as a test market, taking literally the adage about how things play there.

The article makes a pitch for using Illinois as the first presidential primary state. I have a more modest pitch in mind: take Illinois as the United States in microcosm. Now consider Northern Illinois University as a prototype for state-supported higher education in microcosm. On average, and above average, the students and faculty are fine. In my view, it's incumbent on the administration and the legislature to do right by the students and faculty and set the pace for the country.