Boston Police Official, Author, Psychologist to Offer Perspective
04/01/2013
Contacts: Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944, Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu or Christine Gillette, 978-934-2209, Christine_Gillette@uml.edu
* Media Advisory *
Day Without Violence to Focus on Gun Issues
Boston Police Official, Author, Psychologist to Offer Perspective
Tuesday, April 2
11 a.m.
What: An outspoken author and journalist, a senior Boston Police Department official and a former prison psychologist will take on the issue of guns and violence in a panel discussion at UMass Lowell.
“A Day Without Violence” will feature keynote speaker Craig R. Whitney, author of “Living with Guns: A Liberal’s Case for the Second Amendment,” who has taken positions on whether gun control can prevent events like the Newtown, Conn., tragedy and the shooting of Florida teen Trayvon Martin. Whitney, a Vietnam veteran, is a former New York Times reporter and editor whose career includes stints as a foreign correspondent in Saigon, London, Paris and Moscow, where he was put on trial by Soviet authorities for his reporting on the confession of a dissident.
Panelists will also include Commander of the Boston Police Drug Control Unit Lt. Det. Robert Merner, a 27-year veteran of the force who has also served in the Boston Police Homicide, Anti-Gang Violence and Organized Crime units among other duties; and Cathy Levey, a psychologist who worked in the Connecticut prison system before joining UMass Lowell’s Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology.
The event is open to the public. In addition to UMass Lowell students, faculty and staff, students from local high schools will attend.
“A Day Without Violence” is held annually on campuses across the nation in memory of the teachings of Martin Luther King Jr. UMass Lowell’s observance is presented by the university’s Peace and Conflict Studies Institute, the Greeley Scholar for Peace Studies Program and the Center for Arts and Ideas.
Where: Comley-Lane Theatre, Mahoney Hall, South Campus, 870 Broadway St., Lowell. Contact UMass Lowell media relations for directions and parking information.