DCentric

Early to rise, DCentric readers. Here are your morning links, hot and ready for your perusal. See something you think we missed? Email us at dcentric@wamu.org.

Do we really need to describe neighborhoods negatively? We’ve written before about using the word “ghetto” to describe a D.C. neighborhood. What about “hardscrabble?” Or calling it a “dive neighborhood?” This post asks not so much whether it’s necessary to use negative words to label Trinidad, but whether they are accurate. As a general rule, attempting to describe a complex, rapidly-changing neighborhood with any blanket term can be challenging. (The District Curmudgeon)

Scientists Measure the Accuracy of a Racism Claim Scientists are now saying a seminal study that debunked racist scientific claims was actually inaccurate itself. It’s all based on the infamous study by 19th-century anthropologist Samuel George Morton, who measured the skull size of people belonging to various races. Another scientist in the 1980s claimed that Morton was influenced by his biases. Now, scientists have remeasured the skulls and find that Morton’s measurements were mostly accurate. (The New York Times)

Foster Youth Interns On Capitol Hill Work To Help Others Not all Hill interns have led lives of privilege! An intern in California Congresswoman Karen Bass’ office was once a foster child, and now she’s advocating for legislation to allow foster children to receive government benefits until they turn 25. (WUSA 9)

Under pressure from economy, National Building Museum in DC to begin charging admission fee Soon, there will be one less free museum in D.C: The National Building Museum will start charging adults $8 and youth and seniors $5 for admission. So you know that building museum trip you’ve been planning on taking forever? You’ve got about a month left before you have to pay up to take it. (The Washington Post)

DC Flag Tattoo Day: Does it Matter If You’re Not Punk? D.C. flag tattoos have their roots in the District’s punk scene, but they’ve recently been co-opted by advocates for D.C. voting rights. Does it make the tattoo less cool if a member of the shadow delegation has one? (Washingtonian.com)

Dirty Dozen list: Should you pay any attention? The apple industry is decrying the new list of which non-organic produce to avoid, calling it “alarmist.” Jenny Rogers reports that such lists are starting to affect buying patterns, and writes that hidden in the data “is the fact that just 0.3 percent of all the food samples showed residues exceeding EPA standards. This ‘dirty dozen’ might have tested highest for pesticide residue, but a teensy fraction of those fruits and vegetables were actually not up to code.” (TBD)