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POTSDAM — Stress is a killer, especially for minorities.


That's according to a study published in the American Journal of Public Health, and a couple of professors from SUNY Potsdam are setting out to find out if it's true in St. Lawrence County. The study, written by professors at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, found that instances of discrimination contribute to health problems, both mental and physical.


To find out what that means locally, the two Potsdam professors will start traveling around the county, asking people — especially minorities — to fill out a survey about their health and perceptions of discrimination.


"There's been a lot of research about differences in health between people who are white and people of color," said Kelly K. Bonnar-Kidd, a professor at SUNY Potsdam's Community Health Department. "People who report more instances of discrimination, they tend to have poorer health. The poorest white woman will live longer than the richest black woman and a lot of it's because of stress."


Ms. Bonnar-Kidd and Maureen A. McCarthy have been collecting data since April on three of the four St. Lawrence County college campuses, but the information they need for the study isn't coming in very quickly. They've already surveyed SUNY Canton and St. Lawrence University, Canton, as well as their own college, and plan to do Clarkson University in the fall.


But of the 6,500 people of color in the county, they received responses from only about 70, Ms. Bonnar-Kidd said.


So they will send out interns and research assistants to grocery stores and other high-traffic locations, asking people to fill out their 80-question survey. After a series of questions about someone's general state of health, the survey asks about racist encounters with various groups, ranging from law enforcement to strangers and friends, and how stressful those experiences were for the person.


"We've gotten a good number of students, faculty and staff," she said. "I really hope we can reach the population we need."


There is not yet much concrete evidence that discrimination has a large effect on the health of minorities in St. Lawrence County, but there is some evidence that racism is a problem in the north country, Ms. Bonnar-Kidd said.


"Anecdotally, we heard from students of color some of the trouble they've had here, things like finding employment and housing," she said. "When I first found out about that supremacist organization in Parishville, I said, 'OK, we need to do something about this.'"


According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights organization based in Alabama, there is a group in Parishville called the Council of Conservative Citizens, a white nationalist group.


There also have been instances of racist graffiti and slurs around the north country, Ms. Bonnar-Kidd said.


If, at the end of the survey, the professors determine there is a link in St. Lawrence County between discriminatory encounters, related stress and overall health, the next step will be outreach and education to residents.


"A lot of it, I think, is unknown; a lot of people don't realize or don't understand that what they do can be racist," Ms. Bonnar-Kidd said. "We hope to do some education and outreach."