EL-AMIN PAYS HIS DUES

UConn basketball star Khalid El-Amin told Hartford students Wednesday
that they should seek out good role models and make smart, responsible
choices in the face of peer pressure.

El-Amin delivered his comments to students at three middle schools to
comply with court-mandated community service - his punishment after
being arrested and charged with possession of marijuana two weeks
after UConn beat Duke University to win the NCAA Championship.

El-Amin was arrested April 13 on Vine Street in Hartford's North End.
Police said the UConn star point guard bought drugs in a vacant lot on
Garden Street and then drove through a red light. El-Amin was charged
with possession of less than 4 ounces of marijuana and failing to heed
an intersection traffic light.

El-Amin pleaded guilty to the charges in Hartford Community Court and
agreed to perform community service as a punishment. In addition to
speaking at the schools, El-Amin has spent time picking up trash in
the North End. With the community service completed, the charges
against El-Amin are expected to be dropped and his record will be
wiped clean.

The area where El-Amin was arrested is not far from Lewis Fox and
Quirk middle schools, where he spoke to students Wednesday. He also
spoke to students at South Middle School. Lawyers, school and court
officials agreed at a meeting Wednesday morning to close the event
tothe media.

``I instructed the board, this is just between him and the kids,''
said Judge Raymond Norko, who came up with the idea for El-Amin to
tour city schools and make amends with disappointed youths. ``He is
sincere in wanting to talk to the kids. I think he needs the privacy
to do so.''

After his talk at Lewis Fox Middle School, El-Amin was escorted from
the building to a waiting vehicle by a Hartford sheriff and school
security guard.

``I talked to the kids,'' he said. ``I hope I made them want to make
the right decision.''

After school, students said El-Amin encouraged them to think through
all their choices, including whom to hang out with and what to do when
people pressure them to drink, smoke or experiment with drugs.

``He said everyone gets tempted to do stuff and that you should just
say no,'' said Sam Cummings, 13, an eighth-grade student.

El-Amin was apologetic about the arrest, students said.

``He said he regrets that he had the marijuana,'' Cummings said. ``He
wished he never had it, that he would turn back time if he could.''

``It was a big choice he made that was wrong,'' said Eboni Johnson,
14, an eighth-grader. ``I like him and I think they should give him a
second chance and not be so hard on him. He made a mistake . . . I
think he learned from it.''

But one middle school teacher was disappointed by the speech, saying
El-Amin showed no remorsefulness and avoided students' questions when
asked about marijuana.