protection applies than under the U.S. Constitution's Eighth Amendment; the former prohibits punishments that are "cruel or unusual", while the latter only prohibits punishments that are "cruel and unusual". The constitution also confers upon women equality of rights in "entering or pursuing a business, profession, vocation, or employment." This is the earliest state constitutional equal rights provision on record. Two universities are expressly mentioned in the constitution: the public state-run University of California and the private Stanford University. UC is one of only nine state-run public universities in the United States whose independence from political interference is expressly guaranteed by the state constitution. Since 1900, Stanford has enjoyed the benefit of a constitutional clause shielding Stanford-owned property from taxes as long as it is used for educational purposes. Amendments and revisions The California Constitution distinguishes between constitutional amendments and constitutional revisions, the latter of which is considered to be a "substantial change to the entire constitution, rather than ... a less extensive change in one or more of its provisions". Both require passage of a California ballot proposition by the voters, but they differ in how they may be proposed. A constitutional amendment may be placed on the ballot by either a two-thirds vote in the California State Legislature or by signatures equal to 8% of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election through the exercise of the initiative power by the voters. The signature requirement for constitutional amendments is among the lowest thresholds for similar measures of any U.S. state. , this was 997,139 signatures compared to an estimated 2018 population of 39,557,045. A constitutional revision originally required a constitutional convention but today may be passed with the approval of both two-thirds of the Legislature and approval by a majority of voters; while simplified since its beginnings, the revision process is considered more politically charged and difficult to successfully pass than an amendment. Voters exercising the initiative power are not permitted to propose a constitutional revision. Signatories of the 1849 Constitution Many of the signatories to the state's original 1849 constitution were themselves prominent in their own right, and are listed below. The list notably includes several Californios (California-born, Spanish-speaking residents). Representing the District of Los Angeles José Antonio Carrillo Manuel Domínguez Stephen Clark Foster Hugo Reid Abel Stearns Representing the District of Monterey Charles T. Botts Lewis Dent Thomas O. Larkin Pacificus Ord Henry Wager Halleck Representing