Cultural history

At Westside Middle School in Tennessee, students who are sagging their pants too low and can’t seem to get them up are given zip ties that haul the pants up to a level more like what might have been seen on the sitcom Family Matters, which centered on Steve Urkel and his way-too-high-pants.

The Boston Globe’s photography critic, Mark Feeney, looked at the photo of the Miami Heat wearing hoods, which LeBron James posted on his Twitter account this week, and was struck by the emotion and stillness of the image, calling it an insight into the morality and the grief the shooting of Trayvon Martin has inspired.

Newt Gingrich has taken to calling President Barack Obama “the food stamp president.” But in terms of his rhetoric, some of the statements aren’t quite accurate, a social welfare professor said.

A writer blogged about a friend of his — a scientist — who had a particular tattoo: a strand of DNA. All of the sudden, other scientists came out of the woodwork to show off their odd ink.

PostSecret, a project that collects anonymous secrets mailed on postcards from around the world, is now a book.