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IT'S FOR SCIENCE
Jew
saliva sought for signs
Jews
sought for saliva study By TIA GOLDENBERG, Freelance Writer MONTREAL—Jewish Montrealers will soon be asked to give saliva to see how stressed they get when they read about the Palestinian-Israeli situation in daily newspapers. Professors from Carleton University in Ottawa are looking for people willing to stick a cotton ball in their mouth to measure how irate they become while reading stories about this subject. They hope to get about 60 participants. "The Middle East conflict is on almost everybody's mind, one way or another," said Bill Surkis, regional director of B'nai Brith Canada. Kimberly Matheson, a Carleton psychology professor, said she came up with the idea for the study after seeing an "incredible amount of stress" among Jewish colleagues at her university as they read the news. This caused Matheson to look at the effects of perceived media biases. The researchers are seeking volunteers in Montreal because it has a larger Jewish population than Ottawa. Participants will read a compilation of newspaper articles in their own home. Before and after reading the material, they will swab their mouths to see how much of the stress hormone cortizol is present. The cotton balls are then placed in a refrigerator and later mailed to Ottawa for analysis. Hymie Anisman, a colleague of Matheson, said the level of cortizol in the saliva will indicate how stressed the media coverage makes the participant. Anisman said the results could allow people to learn to better cope with daily, low-grade stressors, like news-media coverage. Matheson said she watched her Jewish co-workers' faces turn red in anger last year as they read stories about the situation in Israel. "My Jewish colleagues were getting very upset at the news coverage," she said. She could see their stress levels rise. The study is funded by the university. Its results are to be made public at the end of the month. Interested volunteers can call (613) 520-2684.
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