This is the VOA Special English Health Report.
Scientific evidence has been building about the dangers to people who do not smoke from those who do. Now the top doctor in the United States says the evidence cannot be argued: secondhand tobacco smoke is a serious public health risk.
Recently Surgeon General Richard Carmona released the government's largest report ever on secondhand smoke. For example, it says nonsmokers increase their risk of lung cancer by up to thirty percent if they live with a smoker.
Doctor Carmona noted the added dangers faced by children who have to breathe secondhand smoke. These children are at increased risk for sudden infant death syndrome, severe breathing problems and ear infections. The report says smoking by parents also slows lung growth in their children.
Children are especially at risk from the poisonous chemicals in tobacco smoke because their bodies are still developing.
Smoking during pregnancy can lead to babies with low birth weight. And low birth weight can lead to many health problems.
The surgeon general says there is no safe level of secondhand smoke. Effects in the blood can be seen after even a short time in a smoky room.
Scientists have estimated that secondhand smoke kills about fifty thousand adults in the United States each year. Most of these nonsmokers die from heart disease, the others from lung cancer. Also, an estimated four hundred thirty newborn babies die from sudden infant death syndrome as a result of secondhand smoke.
Scientists have identified more than fifty cancer-causing substances in secondhand smoke. Tobacco smoke also damages blood passages. And it reduces the ability of the heart to correct abnormal heartbeats.
The report says separating smokers from nonsmokers or trying to clean the air in buildings is not enough protection. Doctor Carmona noted the progress in establishing smoke-free public places in the United States. Blood tests show that Americans are being exposed to secondhand smoke in fewer numbers and at lower levels since the late nineteen eighties.
But the surgeon general says almost half of all nonsmokers in the United States are still breathing tobacco smoke at home, work or both.
The first surgeon general's report warning about the dangers of cigarettes came out in nineteen sixty-four.
And that's the VOA Special English Health Report for this week, written by Caty Weaver. Transcripts and archives are at . I'm Shep O'Neal.This is the VOA Special English Education Report.
Almost half of new American teachers leave the profession within five years. Some get tired of large class sizes, limited planning time and support, and wishing to feel more valued by society. At the same time, experts say too many teachers lack the required knowledge of what they teach, especially math and science.
Criticisms of teaching are usually less about the working conditions than about the pay. A new report calls for an immediate pay increase of fifteen to twenty percent. It says this would lift teachers from the bottom in starting pay among professions.
The report, "Teachers and the Uncertain American Future," is from the Center for Innovative Thought. The College Board formed this group last year with "some of the best minds in education," in its words.
The College Board is a non-profit organization that owns the SAT college entry test. It also administers the Advanced Placement program.
The report urges new programs to solve a crisis in the number of qualified math and science teachers. It says less than half of students who finish high school are ready for college-level math or science.
It says another problem is a shortage of minority teachers, to better represent society. It says two times as many black and three times as many Hispanic, Asian and Native American teachers are needed.
The report says the nation needs a new agreement, a "compact," with its teachers to defend its position in the world. All this would be financed with public and private money through a proposed "Teachers' Trust."
The suggested fifteen to twenty percent pay raise would rise to fifty percent. Teachers would work eleven months of the year instead of ten. Excellent teachers and those who agree to teach in troubled schools and subjects with shortages could get extra pay.
The plan also calls for better working conditions, and more pathways into teaching for those without traditional training.
The National Education Association is America's largest teachers union. Its president says the proposals from the Center for Innovative Thought are nothing new.
Reg Weaver says schools will not improve until teachers have the support, skills and training necessary to do their jobs. He says the surest way to end the teacher shortage is for all teachers to receive pay that recognizes the job they have to do.
And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. Transcripts and archives are at . I'm Faith Lapidus.
