Cheers can be heard from almost any point on campus. "Yes, we can!"

Students embrace with a sense of urgency.

"Yes, we can!"

Blue state. Red state. Electoral votes. CNN projections.

"Yes, we can!"

It is 11 p.m. on November 4, 2008, and Barack Obama has just been elected the 44th president of the United States of America. Contained chaos has erupted.

At Brandeis, a consistently left-leaning university, Barack Obama's election swept the campus with a feverish frenzy. One hundred days after Inauguration Day, most of the emotions surrounding Obama's election have cooled, and students have begun speaking more rationally of his presidency. The April 19 event hosted by Gen Ed Now, "Obama's 100 Days: A Progress Report," featured a distinguished panel of experts who evaluated the Obama administration's conduct in three key areas: the economy, foreign policy and health care.

Speakers at the event included Greg Mankiw, a Harvard professor of economics and former chairman of President George W. Bush's Council of Economic Advisers; Stuart Altman, professor of national health policy (Heller) and former deputy assistant secretary for Health Policy; and Charles Dunbar, professor of international relations at Boston University and former ambassador to Qatar and Yemen. Prof. Peniel Joseph (AAAS) moderated the panel.

The calm, bespectacled Mankiw, gave his insight into the current financial crisis and how well he thinks Obama's economic policy has dealt with it. He started off by describing what makes the United States' current financial situation unique and said it was caused by a "lack of imagination." He said that in order to fix the situation, the administration has to fix the bank system because it goes to the "heart of the problem." He said that Timothy Geithner "rolled out a plan . that is quite reasonable." However, he went on to criticize Obama's proposed fiscal stimulus package.

"The biggest long-term problem has to do with the [proposed] budget. [It's] unsustainable," Mankiw said. "We set up a social safety net for the elderly that is going to cause government spending to rise above tax revenues."

Still, Mankiw was optimistic about Obama's environmental reform policy. Describing himself as a "fan of global climate change," he said, "What [Obama's administration] is proposing basically makes sense" by putting limits on the amount of carbon we can emit, among other things.

Despite his general doubts regarding the Obama administration, Mankiw said he was "not forecasting another Great Depression."

Still, Mankiw also expressed concern about Obama's health care reform plans.

"I am personally skeptical that we are going to save a lot of money through health care reform. Health information technology may be a good thing, [but it] may be a bad thing. What's driving health care [costs are] advances in technology-which are not going to be changing," he said.

Altman, who had reddish hair and a warm smile, also talked about his views on Obama's health policy. Although he said the "stars are aligned for significant health reform," he also described some of Obama's major obstacles.

Firstly, he said, Obama needs to create universal health care coverage. Secondly, America needs to reduce the rate of the growth in health care spending.

"We spend 50 percent more than any other country in the world, and we really don't get the [benefits]," he said.

Altman said Obama has adopted a philosophy that is working toward universal health care coverage and shared responsibility among the government, the individual and the employer. He also said Obama put off debate on controlled health care spending.

Charles Dunbar said that in his opinion, Obama has had the most difficult first 100 days in office in American history.

Dunbar praised Obama's progress in forging America's relationship with Russia. He also praised Obama's approach to relations with the Muslim world as "quite reasonable."

Dunbar also addressed U.S. affairs with Cuba and Obama's increased effort towards friendly relations.

"[There is] a new beginning with Cuba, [which is] interesting. [There are] substantive changes [being made]," he said. "[By] easing travel with Cuban Americans, [it is] making it possible to make remittances. We already see the Cubans ready to respond in kind. That's substantive tilling of the garden in the way the garden should be tilled."

In reponse to a question from a member of the audience about how he thinks Obama will handle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Dunbar answered, "The two states solution."

"All around the world," Dunbar concluded, "Peoples and governments are prepared to say, 'This is a new beginning.'"

Benjamin Bechtolsheim '09 praised how informative the event was and said, "I was pleased that students took the initiative to present this forum, and I found it to be a valuable way of looking at the beginning of the Obama administration."

-Greta Moran contributed reporting