Lawsuits won't ease pain

It's funny how money changes people. How money can bring out greed in even the best people, and how it can be seen as a substitute for human emotions.\nThe families of the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks are the latest to be jaded by dollar signs, assuming that money is going to help take away the pain of the horrific losses. \nThese families are being offered money by the federal government, but accepting this money binds them from using the legal system to gain even more money. In other words, take the money, and don't sue.\nBut this proposal is being openly rejected by the families who feel the $1.6 million isn't nearly enough to cover the loss of their loved one.\nBut is that really something that any amount of money can cover?\nIn addition to falsely thinking that money can replace a human being, demanding more money would hurt the U.S. as a whole.\nWhat good would it do to let the families sue whomever they feel is responsible for the attacks? The likely losers of the suits would be airlines and the federal government. Both are financially strapped and both are scrambling to safeguard Americans from a future attack. Draining these institutions of their resources would defeat the principle of mourning a lost American since it would, in turn, jeopardize the safety of others. \nAdditionally, filing suit would be alleging that the government or airline could have been prepared for this shocking terrorist attack. This is a painful question to debate, and certainly not a constructive issue to thrust into the minds of Americans. Dissecting the semantics of "what if" is the last thing America needs to get on its feet. \nIt's a tragedy that these families are trying to profit on their loved one's death, and are willing to do it, no matter what the cost.\nForget that the whole nation is grieving with them. Forget that if each of them is getting millions and millions of dollars, they are only hurting the nation more. \nForget that money is no substitution for a human life, or several thousand human lives. \nIt's sickening, that in the nation's darkest hour of loss and brightest moment of patriotism, money-hungry families are letting money destroy the outpouring of unity.\nThe culture of suing the black cat that crosses one's path needs to end. It should not be carried into this defining era of our history. These families should accept the generous offer of the federal government, and bury the dollar signs dancing in their heads for the sake of our progress as a nation. \nStaff vote: 17 - 4-0