Congress and the Constitution: The Twenty-seventh Amendment and the Past and Future of Constitutional Alteration

The most recent addition to the U.S. Constitution is also one of the first proposed amendments. The 27^th Amendment restricts change to congressional salaries until after the next election. First drafted by James Madison and approved by Congress in 1789, the proposal was among a package of 12 items sent to the states. Ten of those proposed amendments were ratified and became known as the Bill of Rights. The others languished with only occasional attention by constitutional scholars. In the early 1980s, an undergraduate student at the University of Texas wrote a term paper arguing for adoption of the limits on congressional pay raises. After receiving a C grade from his teaching assistant and instructor, the student rejected the opinions of his teachers and independently pursued the adoption of Madison's proposal. Gregory Watson single-handedly mounted a letter-writing and lobbying campaign that caused state legislators to redirect their attention to the proposed amendment. In 1992, following a most unusual ratification process—including certification by the Archivist of the United States—the measure became the 27^th Amendment. In this article, we trace the history of the amendment, demonstrate that its impact has been more symbolic than substantive, and argue that Congress needs to reassert its authority over the amendment process in line with the letter and spirit of Article V. The 27^th Amendment has a peculiar constitutional history, and there are lessons we should learn from that experience.     

The Sherwood Foresters of 1916: memories and memorials

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the memorialisation of the Sherwood Foresters who fought during the Easter Rising of 1916 in Dublin. These men, from Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire in the English midlands, suffered the greatest casualties of the British regiments involved in the insurrection, and participated in the firing squads that executed the rebel leaders. Yet the public and artistic memorialising of these English soldiers is not widely known, and this interdisciplinary paper seeks to tell the unfamiliar story of what happened to the Sherwood Foresters after the fighting of Easter Week ceased. We use archival material in order to explore how, at the time of the Rising, these men believed that they would be remembered. We examine the way that the Sherwood Foresters of Easter Week subsequently appeared in literature and drama. And we analyse the way that those soldiers have been commemorated in funerary memorials.     

张家界市博物馆明代铜佛像的多视角影像三维重建探索

由于多视角影像三维重建具有数据采集方便灵活、硬件成本低、操作简单、自动化程度高的特点,因此,选用多视角影像三维重建技术对张家界市博物馆明代铜佛像进行三维建模。通过描述佛像立面与空心底部的影像采集,再应用Agisoft PhotoScan软件进行三维重建的过程;从控制点的三维坐标与误差数值、模型成像与影像图的误差分析,得出佛像三维模型的精度误差微小的结论,证明该技术具有操作简单、模型成像清晰的特点。与三维激光扫描技术相比较,多视角影像三维重建技术具有成本费用低、工作流程高效简捷的优势,更适合在文物工作中推广运用。