IVIUIIVUY, JUIy r LITTLE MISS MUFFET SITS ON HER TUFFET A2 selects Oates as new police chief By Louis Melzlish Daily News Editor The Ann Arbor City Council unani- mously approved the appointment of Daniel Oates as the city's new police chief June 18. Oates is currently the deputy chief for Patrol Borough Brook- lyn South of the New York City Police Department. Although he was the head of the department's intelligence division and, before that, of its law department, and adviser to the City police commissioner, Oates said he wanted a chance at being the top dog. "A career goal of mine for 15 years is to be a chief executive of a police agency," he said. Oates, 46, will replace former Deputy Chief Walter Lunsford, who has served as interim police chief since January 2000. He will take over August 20. Oates said based on the three meet- ings he had with department officials, the staff appears quite competent. "I've been very impressed with the talent that's there," he added. "He has just a wealth of experience at doing a number of responsibilities," said Mayor Pro Tem Jean Carlberg (D-Ward Ill). "He came across as very committed to good police work with good leader- ship abilities." Carlberg added that with the expected retirement of numerous officers over the next few years, Oates will have the abili- ty to shape the police department in the way he sees fit. Although the administration and police department of New York City Mayor Rudolph Giu- liani (R) was criti- cized for being insensitive to the rights of minorities Oates accused of crimes, such as with the death of Amadou Diallo and the beating of Abner Louima, Coun- cilman Robert Johnson said Oates was immune to the criticism. "He got recommendations from both sides that praised his professionalism and integrity," said Johnson (D-Ward I). With the transition, Johnson said Oates might encounter a couple minor problems. Gates will take over a depart- ment that Johnson said has been "drift- ing" without a permanent leader. "His main problem is taking charge of a department that has been lacking in direction for quite some time," Johnson said while praising Lunsford's work. Mayor John Hieftje (D), who also praised Lunsford's work as interim chief, echoed Johnson's views, saying the department was in need of permanent leadership. "The morale of the department needs to be lifted," he added. Also, the department may be unhappy with budget cuts that the city has been forced to make. Nevertheless, Johnson emphasized that these problems are minor, adding, "I don't think there are any major prob- lems." Gates recieved a law degree from the New York Law School and a manage- ment degree from New York University. The other top candidates for the job were Sharon Lubinski of the Minneapo- lis Police Downtown Command and William McManus of the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C. ABBY ROSENBAUM/ Daiy Valerie Lalinsky, owner of the speciality dolls' clothes shop Miss Muffet's Closet, works on her creations at the Artisans Market yesterday morning. University researchers study causes of cardiovascular disease y Sarah Scott ily Staff Reporter Do high levels of pollution and stress lead to increased rates of heart disease? University researchers will try to answer that question in a new study that focuses on cardiovas- cular disease being conducted in Detroit. The five-year, three million dollar study, per- formed in conjunction with the Detroit Urban Research Center, examines whether factors such as air pollution, socioeconomic background and race affect one's risk of being diagnosed with car- vascular disease. "Detroit was chosen for a number of reasons," said Amy Schulz, assistant research scientist in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education. "The School of Public Health has a long history of working with residents of Detroit, we have had really good working relationships with the people of Detroit and the residents are very proactive in looking for ways to improve health." Schulz stressed that this is a partnership with the city, not just a case of researchers going into a city to conduct a study. "Residents said they felt this was something to be studied," she said, noting that the community has been instrumental in every aspect of implementing the research. The project is funded by the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health, and was one of only ten proposals nationwide to receive one of the grants, according to Mary Koch, director of the Brightmoor Community Center in Detroit. One of the requirements for the grant was community input, Koch added. "When people come and ask us to help them we have to analyze whether or not it's in our scope," Koch said, noting that cardiovascular dis- ease is definitely within the scope of what needs to be studied right now. "This area [northwest Detroit] grew up in the 1920s when Henry Ford developed his assembly line, so we have a lot of fun history and our own set of circumstances ... this area is now about 80 percent black and we need to know what are the disparities and the environmental things going on now that weren't here 80 years ago when there was more grass and trees and things?" The study is important because cardiovascular disease is one of the leading causes of death among Detroiters and it's an area the community had not been working on, said Alex Allen, direc- tor of the Butzel Family Center in Detroit and a member of the study's steering committee. "The way this project is designed, a lot of data will be collected and data's important, but we want solutions," Allen said. He noted that while data is good, "disseminating the information in a way that makes sense to people and helping them use it" is what is really important. "Research is only good if you use it to solve a problem," he said. High court declines to hear Texas affirmative action case Ul By Elizabeth Kaaasab Daily News Editor The United States Supreme Court declined to hear a lawsuit challenging race-conscious admissions at the Univer- sity of Texas last Monday. The decision comes less than one month after the high court's refusal to hear a similar case involving the Univer- sity of Washington. Two cases challenging the University of Michigan's admissions policies are cheduled to be heard by the 6th Circuit urt of Appeals in Cincinnati this fall. "It has no effect on our cases," said University Deputy General Counsel Liz Barry of the decision. "We're really focused on winning in the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals," Barry said, adding there is no guarantee the cases will be appealed to the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court does not have to hear the cases if they are. 0 Using race as a factor in admissions needs to be addressed by the Supreme Court, said Curt Levey, legal director for the Center for Individual Rights. CIR represents the plaintiffs in the cases involving the University of Michigan. "If ever there was an issue that the Court should address it would be this one," Levey said. The lower courts are confused about how to interpret the law, Levey said. In Smith v. University of Washington, the 9th Circuit Court upheld the use of race as a factor in admissions as a compelling state interest. The 5th Circuit Court denied the use of race-conscious admis- sions in its decision in Texas v. Hopwood. The two cases involving the Universi- ty of Michigan resulted in two opposite rulings at the district court level. Levey said he thinks it is unlikely that the Supreme Court will decline to hear the University of Michigan's cases if they eventually reach that level. "The University is vigorously defend- ing the admissions policy in question,"he said, adding that the University of Texas has altered its admissions policy since the lawsuit was filed. The University of Texas did not define diversity as a compelling state interest in its defense. The Universi- ty of Michigan agues that a diverse cam- pus enhances students'experience. $15, Earn up to $15 per session in negotiation experiments being held in the business school throughout May, June and July. Experimental sessions last under an hour. You will be eligible to participate in more than one experiment and possibly more than one session in the same experiment. Days: Sunday through Friday Times: 5:00 and 6:30 PM. To be included in the pool of possible subjects, register at: http://ddm.bus.umich.edu/-s ummer0l To participate, you must be over the age of 18. i#