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WHY ZEBRAS DON'T GET ULCERS: A GUIDE TO STRESS, STRESS-RELATED DISEASES, AND COPING by Robert M. Sapolsky W. H. Freeman and Company; 1994 368 pages; $21.95
What with drought, heat, lions and hyenas to contend with, being a zebra isn't easy. But if a medium can be judged by the companies that keep it, to watch the evening news is even more stressful than it is to roam the savanna. It is virtually impossible to get through the six o'clock news these days without seeing a pitch for ulcer medicine, antacids or sleep aids. Such timing is a sure sign that advertisers--who make it their business to know who's watching and when--can count on the unsettling nature of the news itself and on the propensity of news watchers to seek relief from indigestion, flatulence or insomnia. Madison Avenue, it appears, has its own version of Robert Sapolsky's major premise: that the stress of civilized life makes Maalox moments far more likely in the...