At the center of many local rallies, protests and petition signings, it's a good bet you'll run into a member of the Lancaster Coalition for Peace and Justice.
John Schreck, top, is working to end the war in Iraq.
For the past five years, the group organized downtown rallies at Binns Park against the war in Iraq and bus trips to Washington, D.C. It also organized the protest against President Bush's visit to the Jay Group last October.
Despite its level of public involvement, the group is all-volunteer with the exception of John Schreck, 27, who is the LCPJ's administrator and public spokesman.
It's not an easy job for Schreck, who puts in about 30 hours a week for the group.
He sends press releases to local media and designs the LCPJ's bimonthly newspaper, the Lancaster Voice.
Schreck, a Millersville University graduate and Lancaster native, joined the group in 2004.
The most difficult part of the job, he said, is getting the word out to people about the group's events.
And he feels that more could be done to end the Iraq War.
"It's been five years and it doesn't feel like we're getting anywhere," he said. "People are just sick and tired of it."
But it's a matter of course for Schreck, who has been motivated by the war and other human-rights issues.
Though the LCPJ is best known for its opposition to the war, Schreck said the group is involved with other issues, including opposition to state Sen. Mike Brubaker's proposed marriage amendment.
"We're focused on the war, but it's going to end one of these days," he said. "We're going to get into other things."
Hometown: Lancaster.
Education: Bachelor's degree in physics from Millersville University and a master's degree in physics from Stony Brook University. A Ph.D. program in physics at Drexel University starting this September.
A politician/public figure I most admire is: Rosa Parks.
And why: Parks' action of sitting in the white section of a public bus was planned, organized and intentional — not spontaneous and random. I think concerned citizens in today's world need to learn from important historical figures and draw from their actions and tactics to make the kind of long-term changes we want to see in the world.
Quotation to live by: "May we have the hindsight to know where we've been, the foresight to know where we are going, and the insight to know when we have gone too far."
Web sites I visit regularly: Common Dreams,
Facebook,
MySpace,
Digg.com,
slashdot.org,
phillyIMC.org,
LancasterVoice.org,
lancasterIMC.org,
ZNet.
Publications I read regularly: Mostly physics, astrophysics and mathematics publications; the ArXiv and Spires; also, Foreign Affairs, The New York Times, The Nation and Z Magazine.
If you turned on my car radio right now, it would be tuned to: XPN (88.7 FM) or public radio.
Favorite music artists: The Coup, Modest Mouse, Regina Spektor, Orbital, Aphex Twin, Daft Punk, Peter Bjorn & John, Mozart, John Coltrane, Dave Brubeck, Antonio Vivaldi, Bob Marley, Toots and the Maytals and Desmond Dekker.
Hobbies: Peace and justice issues, networking, working on my car, meteorology, astronomy, hiking, camping, drawing and painting, reading, hanging out in Lancaster coffee shops, and going to First Friday.
Heroes from history: My three biggest influences from history include, but are not limited to: Noam Chomsky, Pablo Picasso, Albert Einstein.
Living person I'd most like to join for dinner and conversation: Howard Zinn, because he is a living master of American history from the perspective of the poor, under-represented, and the mostly powerless. It would be great to hear directly from him about many contours of U.S. history that we are not taught in public schools.
Favorite writers: Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, Robert Anton Wilson, Ernest Hemingway, Chaia Heller, David Sedaris, Naomi Klein and Amy Goodman.
Of all the issues confronting the next U.S. president, what do you want to see changed the most: I think global warming (and its consequences) and the proliferation of nuclear weapons are the greatest threat to life on earth — I feel that neither issue has received the type of attention that it deserves.
If you had the power to order all of Lancaster County to read one book, it would be: "Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky."
And here's why: Noam Chomsky explores the connection between America's imperialistic foreign policy and the decline of domestic social services. "Understanding Power" offers a sweeping critique of the world around us.
Paul Franz is a Sunday News staff writer. Contact him at pfranz@lnpnews.com or at 295-5063.
(64)
