Washington, D.C.

FBI to arrest teen in Internet attack

The FBI has identified a teenager as the author of a damaging viruslike infection unleashed on the Internet and plans to arrest him early today, a U.S. official said Thursday.

The 18-year-old, whose name and hometown were not immediately available, was accused of writing one version of the damaging “Blaster” infection, which spread quickly across the Internet weeks ago, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Collectively, different versions of the viruslike worm, alternately called “LovSan” or “Blaster,” snarled corporate networks worldwide. The infection inundated networks and frustrated home users.

Washington, D.C.

Suburbs may fuel obesity, studies say

Sprawling suburbs that make it harder for people to get around without a car may help fuel obesity: Americans who live in the most sprawling counties tend to weigh 6 more pounds than their counterparts in the most compact areas.

Adding to the sprawl concern is the fact that pedestrians and bicyclists are much more likely to be killed by passing cars here than in parts of Europe where cities are engineered to encourage physical activity — and whose residents typically are skinnier and live longer than the average American.

Those are conclusions of major new studies being published Thursday that call on urban planners and zoning commissions to consider public health in designing neighborhoods.

Washington, D.C.

Pulitzer Prize winner named poet laureate

Louise Gluck, winner of a Pulitzer Prize and a dozen other poetry awards, will be the next U.S. poet laureate.

Librarian of Congress James H. Billington announced the appointment Thursday.

Gluck has been an English professor at Williams College for 20 years. She has published nine volumes of poetry and in 1993 won a Pulitzer for “The Wild Iris.” Her latest work, “October,” is due this fall.

Michigan

University announces new admissions policy

The University of Michigan unveiled a new affirmative action policy for undergraduates Thursday, dropping a point system thrown out by the Supreme Court in favor of a less rigid process that still takes race into account.

Applicants will be given the option of identifying their race, but the answer will be considered “holistically” with the rest of the application and will not be assigned a point value, Provost Paul Courant said.

In a 6-3 ruling in June, the high court struck down the point system for undergraduate admissions as too rigid. The system gave a 20-point boost to minority applicants, greater weight than it gave for some measures of academic excellence.

In an accompanying ruling, the Supreme Court upheld, 5-4, the affirmative action policy at the university’s law school.

The new undergraduate policy was modeled in part on the less-rigid law school policy, which tries to ensure that minorities make up 10 percent to 12 percent of each class.