Well, now, don’t you look like a biomedical opportunist? Dragging
through the Academic Underground today, I was solicited to be a part of a
research study.
Between the ages of 18-35? Not much rounder than the average bear?
Swimming against the current of inevitable financial distress? Earn $550
for five one-hour visits over a one month period!
No. I’m not interested. Biomed research at its body-preying
finest. I know they’ve resources aplenty, and experimental medical
research demands observable subjects. So why am I disturbed? 1.
The recruiters lead with money. Recruiter: Couldn’t you think of anything
to spend $550 on? Me: Sure. CCCC. But that was last week, and
all the fine comp bloggers have dispersed the conference far and wide, floating
notes and observations like so many generous leaflets into the blog-blowing
wind. 2. The presence of the recruiters is University sanctioned.
My read: the corporatization of the University given to physical intrusion. I
don’t know what is exchanged, what the University gets, that is, for allowing
the recruiters on campus. Must be something. Or is it seen as a
fair, prudent trade: $550 for experimental license. The proposal situates
students (and, heck, anyone who strolls past the table) as a bodily subject, an
organism, rather than an intellectual subject. Maybe that’s my personal
aversion, the chafe I’m feeling: the absence of a pedagogical ethic centered on
the student.
I know this is a jaded entry; medical progress hinges on experimentation.
We’ve many fine enhancements in this life due to medical progress. But the
experimental arrangement isn’t as explicit as the financial reward for
consenting. The experiment is shrouded in a puff of fiduciary glitter.
So maybe that’s all there is to it. I want it to be done differently.
If you must exploit the hallway traffic of financially strapped students, pitch
the research on the merits of the project, introduce it as experimental
research, rather than teasing, "Hey, you want to make 550 clams?".
But that’d be bad for recruiting, which means that it won’t happen this week or
next, and so I’ll quiet for now.