{"id":1213,"date":"2018-04-03T17:30:30","date_gmt":"2018-04-03T17:30:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/?page_id=1213"},"modified":"2018-04-03T17:30:30","modified_gmt":"2018-04-03T17:30:30","slug":"march-2018","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/inthenews\/march-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"March 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

Repealing the Second Amendment- is it even possible?<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

CBS News<\/em><\/p>\n

Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens\u00a0called for a repeal\u00a0of the Second Amendment in a\u00a0New York Times op-ed\u00a0Tuesday, and he urged demonstrators pressing for gun control to do the same. His bold proposal has prompted many questions about whether such a fundamental change to the U.S. Constitution is legally \u2013 let alone politically \u2013 possible…<\/p>\n

While it’s theoretically possible to change the Constitution this way, “that’s never happened since the Constitution was ratified,” said Kevin McMahon<\/strong><\/a>, an expert in constitutional law and a professor of political science at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.<\/p>\n

In the history of the United States, the only amendment that’s ever been repealed is Prohibition. The 21st Amendment, in 1933, repealed the 18th Amendment, of 1919, which prohibited the making, transportation and sale of alcohol.<\/p>\n

McMahon told CBS News it’s “very unlikely” that the Second Amendment could ever be repealed.<\/p>\n

“It’s hard enough for\u00a0gun control legislation\u00a0to be passed now in the Congress which requires simply a simple majority,” he said.<\/p>\n

A repeal would require “a sea change” in how Americans think about gun control and the right to bear arms, McMahon said.<\/p>\n

“I would never say it’s impossible,” but “it is very difficult to enact a constitutional amendment,” he said\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How true are national tourist stereotypes and where do they come from?<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The Telegraph<\/em> (UK)<\/p>\n

Germans hog sun loungers, French tourists are snobs, Americans are loud, and the English apologise too much. Sorry, but it\u2019s true – according to national stereotypes that is.<\/p>\n

Humans have been stamping geography-based labels on fellow Earth-dwellers since the dawn of time. At best, national stereotypes are comical, and at worst, plain racist. So how did we earn these long-standing reputations and are they fair? How long have Britons been apologising so profusely? Which German began colonising sun loungers?<\/p>\n

Telegraph Travel conducted a thorough, scientific evaluation on the matter by addressing the experts and interrogating foreigners on their labels. (This isn\u2019t really science, that was a joke.)\u2026<\/p>\n

When it comes to our negative national stereotypes, however, some of us go the opposite way and play them down, argues\u00a0Jane Nadel-Klein<\/strong><\/a>, professor of anthropology at Trinity College, Connecticut: \u201cWhen I [an American] am in Britain, I tend to speak more softly, knowing that Brits tend to ‘hear’ Americans as loud, and not wanting to confirm that stereotype. And when I return home after doing fieldwork, having been immersed in local British culture, I find American voices loud – for a few days, that is, when I’m probably just as loud as everyone else.\u201d\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A return to earmarks could grease the wheels in Congress<\/strong><\/a> – By Diana Evans<\/strong><\/a>, professor of political science, Trinity College<\/p>\n

The Conversation<\/em><\/p>\n

Congress passed a US$1.3 trillion spending bill last Thursday, March 22 \u2013 only narrowly averting a third government shutdown this year. President Trump signed the bill into law on Friday.<\/p>\n

Congress\u2019s inability to pass spending bills on schedule has produced unrelenting frustration and criticism by commentators and members of Congress alike.<\/p>\n

Because the congressional budgeting process has become so dysfunctional, many suggest that a return to earmarks, popularly known as \u201cpork-barrel spending,\u201d would grease the wheels for appropriations bills. An earmark is money provided for an individual project in an elected official\u2019s district, as a way of encouraging that official\u2019s vote for a spending bill.<\/p>\n

A return to earmarking \u2013 for projects ranging from new bridges to museum funding to renewable energy research, tailored for individual members\u2019 districts \u2013 would require lifting a 2011 moratorium imposed on the practice.<\/p>\n

I have studied the effect of pork-barrel spending on passing spending bills. Although earmarks are worth reconsidering as a way of greasing the legislative wheels, I would argue that the case for them is mixed.<\/p>\n

Pro-earmark arguments have come from both parties. The supporters include Sens. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, as well as President Trump.<\/p>\n

Simultaneously, pressure from House Republicans has led Speaker Paul Ryan to allow hearings to consider ending the 2011 earmark moratorium\u2026.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Is Saturday\u2019s \u2018March for Our Lives\u2019 a moment or a movement?<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Deseret News<\/em> (Utah)<\/p>\n

More than a million people, including high school students and their families, are expected to swarm the streets of cities around the world Saturday to participate in \u201cMarch for Our Lives\u201d demonstrations, with the goal of ending school shootings.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo more silence, end gun violence” and “thoughts and prayers are not enough” were among the chants planned for Salt Lake City\u2019s march, according to the organizers’ Facebook page, which has more than 10,000 followers.<\/p>\n

\u201cMarch for Our Lives is created by, inspired by, and led by students across the country who will no longer risk their lives waiting for someone else to take action to stop the epidemic of mass school shootings,\u201d the March For Our Lives mission statement reads\u2026<\/p>\n

Cheryl Greenberg<\/strong><\/a>, a professor of history at Trinity College<\/strong>, has been inspired by the passion she\u2019s seen from young activists.<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re young you have a kind of idealism and belief you can change the world that adults don\u2019t believe anymore. You put that together with energy and desperation and you can see tremendous things,\u201d she said\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

US Universities Won\u2019t Punish Students for Protesting Gun Violence<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Voice of America<\/p>\n

American universities across the country are publicly supporting high school students who participate in peaceful protests against gun violence.<\/p>\n

University admissions officials have posted on official websites and the social media service Twitter. The announcements are aimed at students who are applying for colleges and universities. They say students who are suspended for protesting gun violence will not be punished in the application process.<\/p>\n

The statements come in response to a national discussion about how to fix the problem of gun violence in American schools\u2026<\/p>\n

Angel B. Perez<\/strong><\/a> is the vice president of enrollment and student success at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. He told VOA he wasn\u2019t trying to make a political statement or to \u201cchoose a side\u201d in the gun debate. Instead, he was supporting students participating in protests as a way to learn and express their ideas.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a representation of our values, what it is that we care about. We want students who stand up for what they believe in, who take controversial views and perspectives\u2026 that\u2019s something we would admire in the college admissions process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perez also said peaceful protests are important to American society. Right now, Perez said, people are not \u201cconstructively disagreeing with each other.\u201d He says speaking out on social media and holding debates can move society forward on difficult issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of what we\u2019re trying to teach them in higher education is to mobilize and stand up for the issues that you believe in, but also learn to listen to the other side. If you are saying to students at the high school level that we are going to punish you for trying to do these things, that actually really disrupts the education process that we are trying to engage in, in higher education.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The uncertain fate of civil religion in the Trump era<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cReligion Watch\u201d blog, Baylor University\u2019s Institute for Studies of Religion<\/p>\n

Does American civil religion, a shared, generic faith based upon belief in America as an exceptional nation and marked by national symbols and rituals, have a future? Judging by reporting on the recent death and burial of evangelist Billy Graham, it seems that the idea of civil religion is alive and well. In the Religion News Service feature \u201cThe \u2019Splainer,\u201d (February 28), Kimberly Winston writes that the rituals surrounding Graham\u2019s death, such as having his body \u201clie in honor\u201d in the nation\u2019s Capitol, the first religious figure to do so, are \u201cpart of the American civil religion that can unite us all.\u201d But according to scholars speaking at a recent Fordham University conference in New York attended by RW, growing religious illiteracy as well as the more nationalistic policies and themes of the Trump administration spell more of a death knell for this political religion\u2026<\/p>\n

Mark Silk<\/strong><\/a> of Trinity College of Hartford, CT, argued that \u201c[w]e don\u2019t need theism to appeal to a civil religion based on patriotism.\u201d<\/p>\n

Silk argued that many of the functions that civil religion was supposed to fill now have a more secular basis, as reflected in the kneeling protests in the National Football League and the protests over immigrants\u2019 rights. Such efforts provide the \u201ctranscendent\u201d value of equality even if they are not addressed to a religious audience, he said…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Repealing the Second Amendment- is it even possible? CBS News Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens\u00a0called for a repeal\u00a0of the Second Amendment in a\u00a0New York Times op-ed\u00a0Tuesday, and he urged demonstrators pressing for gun control to do the same. His bold proposal has prompted many questions about whether such a fundamental change to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1424,"featured_media":0,"parent":683,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1213"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1424"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1213"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1213\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1214,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1213\/revisions\/1214"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}