In an event hosted by the Pi Sigma Alpha political science fraternity Tuesday, four University political science professors debated President Barack Obama’s first year in office.

David Jackson, Melissa Miller, Jeff Peake and Dion Farganis answered questions posed by members of PSA about the current administration.

PSA President Coleman Howes started the debate by asking how Obama has done in being transparent.

Peake said the American Political Science Association has lobbied for open government records, and the administration responded quickly to those concerns.

But Jackson said there are still promises the president has yet to keep.

“They said they’d put the health care debates on C-SPAN, and that hasn’t happened yet,” he said.

In response, Peake said the president bears a lot of blame for unrealistic expectations from Americans.

Farganis said Obama is almost too good at public speaking, and that causes some to believe the president is transparent when it might not be the case.

“He’s so good on his feet that he gives the impression of being transparent,” he said.

The next question was whether Obama’s health care reform package was a practical idea.

Farganis said the health care reform is facing a stalemate because the current government system is ill-equipped to handle meaningful change.

“I think Obama’s running into issues presidents have faced before,” Farganis said. “He may have great ideas, but the restraints are too much.”

One of the other questions asked was about the conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan, and how the president is handling the war.

The professors agreed the war is winding down, though not finished.

Miller said the plan is to remove most troops by 2011, which leaves the administration with a short time frame to see improvements in the Middle East.

“This has been going on for years,” she said. “Will another 18 to 24 months help?”

Once all of the pre-arranged questions were asked, the floor was opened for questions from the general audience. Students asked questions for 20 more minutes before the event was finished.

Some who attended the debate thought it was well done.

Sophomore Danni McConnell said she would go to another like it.

“I thought it went well,” she said. “They asked interesting questions.”

Howes said the event was successful and there will be more in the future.

“An event like this [was] a good opportunity to get expertise of faculty in the public eye,” he said.

The professors on the panel were chosen based on their area of concentration, said Howes. Future debates on different topics will feature different faculty.