Reunited in Querétaro: Speaking of Ethics...

It's starting to be consistently warmer as we move past the rainy, cool winter weather. Just like at home warmer weather means more folks coming out! The whistles, stares, and stupid lines, "Ay guapa (hey good looking/sexy)," are increasing! It seems that heat is a catalyst for foolish behavior. During my internship in DC a couple years ago I took a course called Peaceful Solutions and we discussed catcalling. I think there is a different culture in Mexico in comparison to the United States, but I feel like women are annoyed either way. At home in Cincinnati men make stupid comments or stare....extra intensely and it bugs me. And here in Mexico it's like 10x as frequent, but either way I'm bothered...So does that make it right whether it is more socially accepted here...I'm going to go with no. I talked to a group of English students in class the other day during their lesson about the same subject. First, they are all men. Second, they said oh that's normal that is just the culture. Then I asked them if they know if that annoys women or not. I told them it annoys me. One student asked, "How about if a guy says you look nice today or something like that?" I replied that I wouldn't mind that at all and that that is a much better approach. But then I really baffled them when I said, "But that rarely ever happens..." Sad story I know.

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This week for Ethics class we broke up into groups by major and had the assignment of filming an ethical dilemma in our field of study. Our group, International Relations, decided to do a spin on an actual event. Congresswoman Barbara Lee D-CA was the only one who voted against the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists (AUMF), which would allow former president Bush to target any persons he thought posed a threat to the United States. This resolution gave him broad powers in a time when there wasn't enough information regarding who was responsible for September 11, 2001. Barbara Lee had to make an ethical decision when considering how she would vote on the issue. Her words are below:

Barbara Lee

I voted no not because I opposed military action but because I believed the AUMF, as written, granted overly-broad powers to wage war to the president at a time when the facts regarding the situation were not yet clear. I warned my colleagues to be 'careful not to embark on an open-ended war with neither an exit strategy nor a focused target.' "It was a blank check to the president to attack anyone involved in the September 11 events—anywhere, in any country, without regard to our nation's long-term foreign policy, economic and national security interests, and without time limit. In granting these overly broad powers, the Congress failed its responsibility to understand the dimensions of its declaration.... The president has the constitutional authority to protect the nation from further attack and he has mobilized the armed forces to do just that. The Congress should have waited for the facts to be presented and then acted with fuller knowledge of the consequences of our action."