Panel explores morality in the Obama administration

In the past few months, President Barack Obama's administration has brought morality to the table of U.S. domestic and foreign policy. And yesterday, the Penn Democrats brought the topic to the attention of professors and students on campus.

Penn Democrats sponsored and organized a BYOL - "Bring Your Own Lunch" - panel discussion in the Ben Franklin Room of Houston Hall with Political Science professors Rogers Smith, Michael Horowitz, Nancy Hirschmann and Alex Weisiger.

The topic "Morality in U.S. Policy" was chosen by the events committee of Penn Dems because it seemed relevant, especially with the new ethics reforms proposed by the Obama administration, Mike Abboud, a College junior and Penn Dems event director, explained.

Professors and audience members munched on their lunches as Abboud briefly introduced each professor. The discussion began with Hirschmann joking, "Are we supposed to call on and refer to each other as 'Professors'?"

Each professor talked about issues that were particularly applicable to his or her work.

Smith spoke about morality and the responsibilities of citizenship, while Weisiger, whose studies involve international relations, talked about the trade-offs between morality and expediency. Weisiger focused particularly on detainment camps in Guantanamo Bay.

According to Abboud, the event was inspired by the panel discussion held by the Political Science department on the 2009 Presidential election that sparked the interests of many students.

"I thought the event was successful," said Kate Hagedorn, a College junior and member of the events committee. "The professors had really interesting things to say and the audience seemed to have been stimulated by the discussion."

She added, "I had Professor Hirschmann last year and now I am taking a class taught by Professor Weisiger, so it was interesting to catch them outside of the classroom."

The event not only stimulated active discussion but also served to educate and enlighten the audience.

As College junior Danielle Daitch remarked, "I am not really into politics, but I found the dealt issues interesting, and from the discussion I could tell that the country has taken a 180-degree turn, especially in terms of morality."

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