For many of the Binghamton University students who celebrated President Barack Obama’s victory in the presidential election, the hope for change is still alive, but for others this optimism has burnt out.

According to Patrick Regan, a political science professor at BU, peoples’ reactions toward President Obama lowered from their pre-election state because “it’s not an election anymore, it’s just the grind of politics.”

Regan explained that it is harder for students to get “swept up into the euphoria of a policy.”

“The ideals of ‘hope’ and ‘change’ are still alive,” said Laura Chaath, senior political science and history major and president of the College Democrats.

“We are on the brink of ensuring that every American has quality and affordable health care,” Chaath said. “In the near future, ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ will be ended and equal rights for all are closer to becoming a reality than ever before.”

Although many still support Obama’s presidency, some students are wondering if he is going to live up to any of his campaign promises.

“I think people are now more aware that ‘change’ is not as feasible as we thought, or as Obama made it seem to be, and the reality of being a president has started to sink in,” said Starsky Eustache, a senior political science major.

Aylon Pesso, a sophomore philosophy, politics and law major, commented on the fall of President Obama’s approval ratings, saying that there has been a big drop in a small amount of time, which could be an indicator of how the public feels about his performance.

According to sophomore political science major Rachel Rosenthal, people had unrealistic expectations a year ago and it was inevitable that the excitement would dwindle.

“I think there’s a lot to be excited about, like the health care bill with a public option, which could affect a lot of students who might get kicked off their parents’ insurance when they graduate,” Rosenthal said.

Some argue that Obama has a large list of serious issues to attend to and must prioritize his actions.

“I think we need to give him a little more time,” Eustache said. “We shouldn’t expect him to change the world.”

Paul Liggieri, a senior political science major, believes the honeymoon period is over for Obama and people are becoming “disenchanted with his administration,” shown by two Republican governor election victories in major states.

According to a report by The New York Times, Republicans “swept contests” for governor in New Jersey and Virginia on Tuesday, which caused a setback for Obama while “building momentum for a Republican comeback attempt in next year’s midterm Congressional elections.”

Liggieri added that the Republican Party has found its voice again and it is starting to see the light.

Charles Goodman, associate professor of philosophy, said Republicans are raising their voices in opposition to Obama, creating obstacles in his health care reform.

“Obama’s efforts to restore bipartisanship and civility have been completely defeated by a unified, disciplined and very angry Republican opposition,” he said. “The success of [Obama’s] administration will depend largely on whether health care reform passes, and whether it succeeds in expanding access and controlling costs.”

According to Regan, there are a number of positive things that will be visible from January 2009, when President Obama took office, to January 2010.

Regan said these positive changes include that the economic downturn is improving, allowing some who wanted to retire to be able to, more nations have become friendlier to the United States based on Regan’s experiences while traveling and interacting with foreigners and Obama put the Israeli/Palestianian conflict “front and center” and addressed it on day one of his presidency.

However, Jeff Howison, a graduate student in the sociology department, said that Obama currently faces four main issues.

These include the ongoing economic crisis, failure to fundamentally change the foreign policy regarding the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, not taking action on gay rights and the impending failure to close Guantanamo Bay by the original date of Jan. 1, 2010.

According to Chaath, the Obama administration has been working to help students.

“Since his inauguration, funding for the TAP [Tuition Assistance Program] and Pell grants has increased substantially,” she said.