250 ATTEND DRUG ABUSE SEMINAR

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, December 12, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | 5 Star | NEWS | Page B02

In June, the state reclassified anabolic steroids as a Class 3 Controlled Dangerous Substance. The change placed anabolic steroids, a muscle-enhancer said to be making inroads among youths, under the umbrella of the state’s drug-free school zone law. Anyone caught distributing drugs near a school is subject to a mandatory prison sentence.

Educators and law enforcement officials in Bergen County gathered Wednesday to hear state and local representatives outline recent changes in drug laws and urge greater vigilance in identifying drug abuse.

Bergen County Prosecutor John J. Fahy, who sponsored the conference with the Bergen County superintendent of schools, emphasized cooperation between educators and law enforcement agencies.

The conference, which drew 250 to the Sheraton Heights hotel, is the second of its kind in Bergen County, and is an outgrowth of the New Jersey Statewide Narcotics Action Plan, developed in 1987 to enforce state narcotics laws on school properties.

New Jersey Deputy Attorney General Ron Susswein discussed recent changes in drug laws. In June 1991, for instance, the state reclassified anabolic steroids as a Class 3 Controlled Dangerous Substance. The change placed anabolic steroids under the umbrella of the state’s drug-free school zone law, Susswein said. Anyone caught distributing drugs within 1,000 feet of a school is subject to a mandatory prison sentence.

Thomas Bellavia, a Hasbrouck Heights doctor, said in an interview that anabolic steroids appear to have made inroads among students, including some as young as 15 years old.

Anabolic steroids are often used to increase muscle and body mass for improved athletic performance, he said.

Although steroids have medical applications, the use by teenagers is usually 10 to 40 times the usual medicinal dose, he said. The drug could cause adverse effects on the heart, liver, bones, reproductive organs, and skin, as well as on behavior, including causing severe aggressiveness. Bellavia said parents and educators should look for any sudden increase in body and muscle mass, severe acne, development of breasts, and loss of hair in both males and females.

Fahy said he hoped the conference would become an annual event.

TAKE PRIDE, PROFESSOR URGES BLACKS

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, October 20, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A03

After professor Rosalind Jeffries concluded a speech urging blacks to take pride in their heritage, a waiter went over and thanked her for inspiring him and exhorted her to press on with her work.

The 45-minute speech struck the same chord with many of the 350 people at Saturday’s NAACP annual Freedom Fund Awards Luncheon who gave her several standing ovations and flocked to the podium to speak with her.

Jeffries, the wife of controversial college professor Leonard Jeffries Jr., is an art historian and curator, and is a professor at New Jersey State Teachers College. She talked about the contributions of Africans and African-Americans to history, religion, science, and the arts.

But people of all races contributed to civilization, Rosalind Jeffries said. So blacks have to bring forth research that acknowledges contributions of Africans that have long been ignored.

“She didn’t make a speech, she made a statement,” said George J. Powell, president of the Bergen County chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

“She made a statement about life, a statement that when we say we are pro-black it doesn’t mean we are `anti anyone. See, there’s a lot of myth out there about blacks not being bright.”

Speaking with a flourish, and injecting humor and sarcasm, Rosalind Jeffries challenged those myths.

And, without naming names, she touched on a subject that black communities around the country have been embroiled in the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill confrontation before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.

She decried the spectacle of two successful, educated blacks being part of such a lurid display before the nation.

“I hate to see a woman destroy a man in public because she was wounded,” she said. “Even when you are wounded and hurt there’s a time when you must sacrifice. I don’t condone sexual harassment and I am for women’s rights. But I think you must use wisdom in living, along with the knowledge that you acquire.”

Youth Achievement Awards were presented to Wendi Celeste Dunlap, a Hackensack High School sophomore; Richard Howard Jones, a Teaneck High School honors student; Kaileen T. Alston, a senior at Dwight Morrow High School in Englewood; and Natalie Louise Jenkins, a graduate of Demarest’s Academy of Holy Angels and a freshman at Spelman College. Also honored were: Lou Schwartz, Anne Strokes Joyner, Jacqueline Caraway-Flowers, and Curtis and Michelle March, all of Teaneck.

Keywords: SPEECH; BLACK; RIGHT; ART; HISTORY; TEACHER; AFRICA; RELIGION; SCIENCE; TEANECK; EAST RUTHERFORD; ORGANIZATION

TEACHER CHARGED WITH ASSAULT ON GIRL, 13; OTHER DUMONT STUDENTS MAY BE INVOLVED

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, April 7, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A03

A math and science teacher at the Selzer School for the past 21 years was charged Saturday with aggravated sexual assault on a 13-year-old student, officials said.
James J. Walls, 48, was arrested about 2 p.m. Saturday at his home at 88 Pine St., Haworth, said Bergen County Prosecutor John J. Fahy. Walls was to be held in the Bergen County Jail on $25,000 bail, he said.
It could not be determined Saturday what action school officials would take.
Between Dec. 15, 1989, and June 22, 1990, Walls committed “numerous acts of aggravated sexual assault” on the girl by touching her breasts and buttocks during school hours, Fahy said.
Fahy said the girl graduated from the kindergarten-to-eighth-grade school in June 1990, but that she told a school counselor about the assault only a few days ago. The counselor informed authorities, he said. The Dumont Police Department and the Bergen County Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Unit investigated the charge, he said.
Fahy said that when the case goes to a grand jury, Walls would be charged with aggravated sexual assault for each time he allegedly touched the girl.
“As of right now, the investigation is continuing,” Fahy said. “It’s possible other kids were involved. He’s only charged with sexual assault on the one girl. “
If convicted, Walls could face 20 years in prison and fines of up to $100,000, Fahy said.
Dumont Schools Superintendent Thomas Roberts and Selzer School Principal James Kennedy were not at home Saturday and could not be reached. No members of the school board could be reached Saturday.
Lee Brauer, director of public relations for the Dumont school district, said she was not aware of the charges against Walls or of his arrest. She said she did not have the telephone numbers of any school official with her at home.
Fahy said school officials, including the principal, were aware of the investigation, but did not know if they had heard about the arrest.
Dumont Mayor James Moriarty said he was hearing of the charges for the first time.
“This is a shock. I really don’t have a comment at this time,” he said.

Keywords: TEACHER; ASSAULT; YOUTH; SCHOOL; SEX; DUMONT; STUDENT

Notes: Bergen page version