August 22, 1991

Dr. Mark R. Chassin, the California physician nominated to be New York State's next health commissioner, has emerged as the David Souter of gubernatorial appointees, a man with little public record on major health issues and little freedom to stake out his positions. In a reflection of the growing political sensitivity of health policy, Dr. Chassin has followed the instructions of the Cuomo administration to divulge little about his positions or agenda until his Senate confirmation hearings. Dr. Chassin was nominated by Gov. Mario M. Cuomo on Monday, and his confirmation hearings may not be held before November.

The collapse of the Soviet coup, a breathtakingly rapid realization of what had seemed but a frail hope to the Bush Administration only 48 hours earlier, will require a comprehensive recalibration of American policy toward Moscow. It will confront President Bush with major challenges, even as he savors a personal victory and a triumph for democracy. It also constitutes one of the most vivid demonstrations to date of the power of global communications to help shape contemporary history.

A coup by hard-line Communists collapsed on Wednesday as abruptly as it began, and President Mikhail S. Gorbachev returned to Moscow early this morning to reassert control. Mr. Gorbachev landed at Vnukovo Airport on his return from his summer retreat in the Crimea, where he had been placed under house arrest early Monday at the start of the short-lived putsch.

AMERICANS have longed for miracle houses for nearly two centuries. Every few years, for a moment or two, those wishes seem to be granted. A visionary proposes dwellings that are simple, handsome, cheap to construct, maintenance-free and likely to solve the nation's housing crisis, leave the environment relatively unscathed and inspire contented living. Domestic prophets have included familiar names like Thomas A. Edison and Frank Lloyd Wright, and forgotten physiologists like Orson Squire Fowlar, who in the mid-19th century briefly became convinced that all houses should have eight sides and concrete walls. Such dreamers have at least one thing in common: although the public rejected most of their ideas as too far-fetched or too rigid to live with, a few of their suggestions made it into the mainstream.

More Racial Turmoil On Brooklyn Streets Turmoil between blacks and Jews in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn continued. Black youths marched on a Hasidic headquarters. Police officers were hit with shotgun pellets. There were scores of injuries and arrests. Mayor David N. Dinkins was jeered and trapped in a building as a black crowd stoned it. Page B1. Cubans Seize U.S. Prison Seeking to halt deportations, Cubans detained at a Federal prison in Alabama seized part of it and held 11 people hostage. Page A23. Another Democrat Says No Citing his family responsibilities, Senator Al Gore added his name to a growing list of Democrats who have decided not to challenge President Bush next year. Page A20. Giants Pull a Reverse In the season's first upset, Jeff Hostetler, the longtime backup, was named starting quarterback over the veteran Phil Simms. Page B15.