the new law augments
*raises eyebrows*

"Police, fire and EMT personnel throughout the region responded to ground zero without thought to their own personal safety and well-being,"
I have to say this, and understand that I am not being a dick. Alot of us KNEW that we shouldn't be in that shit w/o a mask (and that wouldn't have been enough, you needed a fine particulate respiraor to keep that shit out) We didn't need anyone to tell us that it was bad stuff to be breathing. After 12 or 14 hours in that shit, you could FEEL it in your chest. Alot of the people DID wear them most times, and yelled at those who didn't. I don't even remember hearing anything about anyone saying the air was bad or good outside of being yelled at by other people for not wearing a mask. At no time did they stop everyone and say "hey the air is great, you have NOTHING to worry about."
Conversely, no one stopped everyone and said, "You HAVE to wear a mask, this shit is bad."
Scholarships sound like a bribe to me. It fixes nothing. The people who went there (emt, fire and police) risk their lives for a living. Are they saying that because no one came and stopped them from working and told them how bad it was, that now someone is liable for that? Shouldn't they be covered by their respective insurance companies? I KNOW cops and firemen in NYC, they have awsome benefits, why aren't those covering them?