Adopting public policies that "build healthy communities" is the best way to stem violence in America and to commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., said Deborah Prothrow-Stith, a dean and professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, at a ceremony held Monday afternoon to honor the slain civil rights leader.

The ceremony, held at Memorial Church in Harvard Yard, focused on the tradition of nonviolent activism that King advocated before his assassination in 1968. The Baptist minister, a major lead, in the civil rights struggles of the 1960's, would have been 67 this year.

In addition to Prothrow-stith's address, entitled "Rambo Hearts, Terminator Heads, and Violence in the United States," the service included personal prayers and readings by members of several religious groups within the University.

Prothrow-Stith spoke of the prevalence of violence in today's society and discussed the role of public policy in curtailing this social ill.

"The children in our community will get our attention, our time, our money, our resources one way or the other," she said. "Public policy is to decide how and when the kids will get the attention."

Quoting a famous African proverb which says "it takes a village to raise a child," Prothrow-Stith said that high-risk children who grow up in "unhealthy" surroundings may be incapable of benefiting from parental care.

"If the community is unhealthy, by the time that child becomes an adolescent, you can get some bad outcomes," she said.

Society needs to make "healthy communities around all children" a priority, she said.

A nationwide focus on "stranger, bad-guy violence," instead of violence perpetrated among people who already know each other is also a problem, she said.

To illustrate the American emphasis on incarceration rather than prevention. Prothrow-Stith related the story of one teenager convicted of murder and sentenced to 73 years in jail in a city where the government could not fully fund its summer jobs program.

"We are a society willing to pay $35,000 for 73 years on the same kid we're not willing to give a $2,000 summer job," she said to thunderous applause.

Other speakers at the even cautioned the audience of about 350 students and community members not to forget King's legacy.

Associate Professor of Neurology S. Allen Counter Jr., director of the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations, called Undergraduate Interfaith Forum, reminded the audience to "look to the tensions" among different groups in society.

Naomi S. Stern '97, Chair of the Harvard and Radcliffe Undergraduate Interfaith Forum, reminded the audience to "look to the tensions" among different groups in society.

Quoting King, Kristal C. O'Bryant '98, president of the Black Students Association, said that "we can no longer afford to worship a god of hate. We still have a choice today: nonviolent coexistence or violent co-annihilation."

Other student leaders also shared readings from their traditions. Ethan M. Tucker '97, outgoing chair of Harvard-Radcliffe Hillel, read a Jewish prayer; a representative of the Humanist Student Community, Derek C. Araujo '99, quoted from the Second Humanist Manifesto.

"Let us work together for a humane world by means commensurate with humane ends," Araujo said.

The Kuumba Singers, which perform African-American music, sang several gospel hymns including "I've Been 'Buked" and "Come Out the Wilderness." The audience also sang two Christian hymns.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday has been a nationally-celebrated holiday since 1986 and is currently observed in every state except New Hampshire