The Record from Hackensack, New Jersey • L3

2009 LOCAL NEWS THE RECORD L-3 SUNDAY, MARCH 1 Shelter clients gain new outlook Seminar discusses jobs, budgets, beauty Diversity may factor into marshal pick Is the competition for the U.S. marshal's post between Bergen County's top political lawmen shaping up as a referendum on the politics of race in the Age of Obama? That may be overstating it a bit, but political observers with knowledge of the contest say the jockeying between Bergen County Sheriff Leo McGuire and Freeholder Tomas Padilla is, to a certain extent, being framed that way. In recent weeks, McGuire ramped up his lobbying efforts, mobilizing about a Hjj dozen political supporters, in-eluding Rep. Steven Rothman, By MERRY FIRSCHEIN STAFF WRITER HACKENSACK Clients of Shelter Our Sisters had help Saturday from a Bergen County Academies student in creating a household budget, searching for a job and learning the proper way to apply makeup. The four-hour program, titled "Empower Our Sisters," was the idea of 17-year-old student Jessica Wang as her community-service component for the school's International Baccalaureate program.

"I wanted to do something for women, because I come from a family of strong women," Jessica said. The organization operates a shelter in Hackensack for victims of domestic violence. The 35 women at Saturday's event rotated in four groups through four workshops in finances, job skills, nutrition and beauty. They also shopped at a "store" filled with donated clothes and toys. Children had their own program of crafts and songs, which gave the women a chance to concentrate on themselves.

There was a big lunch, and each woman received a gift bag. Grace Shanahan of Tower Square Securities explained how to make a budget and how compound interest works when saving money. A volunteer translated into Spanish as women nodded their heads and looked at financial brochures. Career and business coach Renee Sussman had a rapt audience as she discussed interviewing skills. School career counselor Mara Patti demonstrated nutritious and budget-friendly recipes created by a chef at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in New York City.

Shiaoling Paxson, the former president of the school's parent organization, walked around with a digital camera. Women who originally had refused to have their photos taken grabbed Paxson and posed with proud smiles once they had makeup on, courtesy of a half-dozen Mary Kay consultants. "One for me, too," a woman called out to Paxson as she removed her winter jacket and walked to a clear spot in the room. Another woman posed with her hand on her hip and a gray fedora tipped jauntily on her head. CARMINE GALASS0STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Jessica Wang, a Bergen County Academies student, organized Saturday's workshop for women from the Shelter Our Sisters program.

to write letters of recommendation to New Jersey's U.S. Sens. Bob Menendez and Frank Laut-enberg. The senators will forward their pick to Obama for consideration. The dual endorsement by the two Democratic senators is critical.

Although not legally bound to do so, President Obama is likely to accept their recom CHARLES STILE POLITICAL STILE event in June with her mother. Her program "had the same goal as Shelter Our Sisters to help them to forge ahead with their new lives," she said. "To help them feel beautiful and confident." E-mail: firscheinnorthjersey.com Rhona Vega, the director of volunteer services for Shelter Our Sisters, praised Jessica. "The women were so grateful" when they received the invitations from Jessica, Vega said. "The women are hungry for information." Jessica said she started planning the mendation.

But some sources also say that Padilla, a Hackensack police captain, also has emerged as a strong contender. Some believe that Padilla, who is Hispanic, might benefit from Obama's drive to diversify his administration. The senators' choice for the next U.S. attorney for New Jersey, Montclaifs Paul Fishman, who is white, is likely to enhance pressure on Obama officials to pick a Hispanic for the marshal's post. The late Glenn Cunningham of Jersey City became the first African-American to hold the marshal's post when President Bill Clinton appointed him in 1996.

If selected, Padilla would become the first Hispanic to hold the seat. Padilla said the job should go to the best-qualified person, but acknowledged that his Hispanic heritage "would work to my advantage." "I'm sure it will be one of the issues that will be under consideration if that is what the administration is looking for," Padilla said. "We have seen that this is a very diverse administration." McGuire, who said he holds Padilla "in the highest personal regard," says the historic victories of Menendez in 2006 as New Jersey's first Hispanic senator and Obama's "glass ceiling" breaking victory last year as the nation's first African-American president will diminish the role of race and ethnicity in choosing nominees for high-profile political posts. "We may be hearing less and less about race in our future," McGuire said. "We finally have come to the realization that people are people and that ability is the most important factor.

We think we are finally coming to that ideal." Officials from Lautenberg and Menendez's office said they do not comment on the internal review of potential appointments. Also running for the job is Samuel Plumeri, a former Mercer County Democratic chairman and sheriff. Plumeri is the director of security for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. DuHaime's homecoming It was a sort of homecoming for Republican strategist Michael DuHaime on Friday as he spoke to a weekly lunchtime gathering held by Passaic County Chairman Scott Rumana. DuHaime took an all-or-nothing gamble last year during Rudolph Giuliani's presidential bid by advising the former New York City mayor to sit out campaigns for the Iowa Caucuses, and save Robots test teens' mettle High-tech skills soar at competition By RICHARD COWEN STAFF WRITER Three groups of North Jersey high school students with a knack for technology spent Saturday showing off their "perfect" robots while building a better future for themselves.

The students from the Pascack Valley Regional High School District, Garret Morgan Academy in Pa-terson and Mahwah High School joined nearly 300 other East Coast students and their robots at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton for the New Jersey FIRST Robotics competition. Preparation began right after the Christmas break, with each school receiving the same robot starter kit in the mail. "We built this whole thing from scratch," said Marc Rodriguez, 15, a sophomore at Garret Morgan Academy. "It took a lot of teamwork." The 61 teams used computers to design blueprints, then cut metal and welded mechanical frames together. Then they attached a wireless receiver, wheels and a drive train, creating a working machine from what could have been a pile of junk.

Saturday's competition tested the robots' speed, dexterity and sturdiness as well as the students' ability to communicate with their creations in a game called Lunacy. During Lunacy, the robots are wheeled onto a low-friction surface and operated by remote control. The robots must maneuver around each other and pick up foam rubber "moon rocks" within a 2-minute period. The one with the most rocks wins. "I think our robot worked really well," said Ethan Hayon, 16, a member of the Pascack Valley team, the Pi-oneers.

"It did everything we asked it to." Pascack Valley's robot, named Apollo, turned left and right when prompted by the wireless joystick controller. The robot stopped on a dime when it had to, and it held onto the rubber moon rocks seemingly as easily as a human would grab a basketball. PHOTOS BY RICHARD COWEN Pascack Valley High School student Ethan Haydon, 16, above, working on Apollo during Saturday's competition at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton. At right, a robot built by students at Garret Morgan Academy in Paterson prepares to go through its paces. Kits were adapted and modified by students.

And best of all, Apollo didn't fall prey to the static electricity buildup on the floor that caused short circuits in many robots. When several robots went down early in the competition, the Pascack Valley kids tied a piece of copper wire to Apollo's frame, safely grounding the robot. "We had a plan for this robot and it worked," said Kevin Killian, a math teacher who helped the 50 kids on the Pioneer team build the robot. Pascack Valley and Mahwah advanced to the quarterfinals before being knocked out. The winner was a three-team alliance, Team Overdrive, which was made up of students from Yonkers, Bridgewater and Plainsboro.

This is the first year for the FIRST competition, which was founded by inventor Dean Kamen, president of the DEKA Research and Development Corp. in Manchester, N.H. The competition, designed to encourage students to seek careers in high technology, has more than 42,000 participants. The national robot championship competition will be held in Atlanta in April. E-mail: cowennorthjersey.com his campaigning strength for the states where he could win more delegates for the nomination.

Giuliani ended up making an early exit from the race. But things are different now that DuHaime is at the helm of former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie's gubernatorial bid. i DUHAIME Totowa police pull body of woman from river For one thing, there only one state to win this time, he said. "Chris has got his message heading into the primary and I'm not going to let anyone get us off that message," DuHaime said before speaking at Miranda's Restaurant.

The group of about 30 politicos included his father, Richard DuHaime, a former Passaic County freeholder. DuHaime, 35, a DePaul Catholic High School graduate, grew up in Bloomingdale, where his mother, Anne, has served as mayor. No one for Kaiser's seat yet Four months after former North Arlington Mayor Leonard I. Kaiser resigned from the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission, Bergen senators have failed to reach an agreement on his replacement. Partisan balance on the board requires a Republican to replace Kaiser.

The appointment is Governor Corzine's to make, but as tradition dictates, he is likely to accept the consensus choice of the Bergen delegation. Republican Sen. Gerald Cardinale of Demarest favors Vince Micco of Rutherford, the sacrificial Republican lamb who ran against Rothman in last year's 9th Congressional District contest. Sen. Paul Sarlo, the Wood-Ridge Democrat, has backed Peter Norcia of North Arlington.

A third name, Rutherford Councilwoman Rose In-guanti, had emerged as a potential compromise, but the idea crumbled after it was pointed out that elected officials could not serve on the six-member board, a sort of super planning and zoning body for 14 Meadowlands municipalities in Bergen and Hudson counties. Officials, however, downplayed any disagreements and they don't expect it to deteriorate into another "Senatorial Courtesy" stalemate. "We're not going to go war over it," Cardinale said. Staff Writer Paul Brubaker contributed to this column. E-mail: stilenorthjersey.com lookers gathered across the street from the bridge where investigators worked for more than two hours.

The woman was Asian and in her mid-20s, Blakeley said. He did not identify her and said authorities were waiting for a medical examiner's report, which probably would be completed this morning. Blakeley said police also received a report Saturday afternoon about a missing young woman from Totowa. Authorities had contacted the young woman's family, he said. "There's a good possibility it could be a runaway suicide," Blakeley said.

Police are asking that anyone with information contact Blakeley at 973-790-3700. E-mail: mandellnorthjersey.com By MEREDITH MANDELL STAFF WRITER TOTOWA A young woman's body was found Saturday evening in the Passaic River, near a bridge at the intersection of Riverview Drive and Hillery Street. Detective Sgt. Dennis Blakeley of the Totowa Police Department said authorities were trying to determine the cause of death and had not ruled out homicide. A passer-by alerted police to the body about 5:30 p.m, reporting that a clothed body was facedown in the water near the bridge.

Totowa police recovered the corpse, with assistance from the Passaic County Sheriffs Department and the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office. Police taped off the scene, and on LESLIE BARBAROSTAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Totowa police and emergency responders removing a body from the scene at Riverview Drive and Hillery Street on Saturday..