Non-smokers have serious concerns

I was taken back by the June 8 article "Stop whining about smokers on campus." I am a professor in the Child Development Department and a nurse; I have four pregnant women in my class who must pass through secondhand smoke because smokers think it is their right to smoke in a non-smoking areas.

Pregnant women who are exposed to secondhand smoke have 20 percent higher odds of giving birth to a low-birth weight baby. We are not whining. We are trying to prevent smokers from disregarding the rights of non-smokers.

The American Lung Associatiion also states that infants exposed to secondhand smoke are more likely to die of SIDS and are at increased risk for bronchitis, pneumonia, ear infections, severe asthma, respiratory symptoms and slowed lung growth. The children in our center are plagued with secondhand smoke that continually comes into their yard. Many of these children have asthma, and the smoke triggers an attack.

All we are asking is that smokers be respectful about the health of others and honor the non-smoking areas so that our children may breathe healthier air.

Dr. Juanita Cordero Child Development and Education Department