Dr. Bashir allowed to practice medicine

Discussion in 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine' started by T'reah, Apr 19, 2014.

  1. T'reah

    T'reah Cadet Newbie

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    What do you all think of Julian being allowed to continue practicing medicine after his genetic augmentation came to light? Don't get me wrong I'm glad! But did it seem a little out of the ordinary for star fleet not to enforce a rule that important to anyone else?:rofl:
     
  2. Melakon

    Melakon Admiral In Memoriam

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    I thought the Bashir Can't Be Smart Naturally concept pretty terrible, especially when they tried to make it a birth defects parable. It completely upends the character, and they didn't even have the courtesy to tell the actor about it in advance.
     
  3. Seven of Five

    Seven of Five Stupid Sexy Flanders! Premium Member

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    It was a bad twist, that should have been built up to properly. But other than that, I'd say it was fine for him to continue practicing. It wasn't him that wanted the procedure, and he spent the rest of his life ashamed, and tried to hide it.
     
  4. bbjeg

    bbjeg Admiral Admiral

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    T'reah has a point. At some point, Bashir lied on an application during his time in Starfleet. That's means for dismissal.
     
  5. Finn

    Finn Bad Batch of TrekBBS Admiral

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    ^Which part of the application?
     
  6. bbjeg

    bbjeg Admiral Admiral

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    ^I'm sure their was a section where he to declare his natural born citizenship. I think he was supposed to add augmented in that section.
     
  7. LeadHead

    LeadHead Director of Comedy Premium Member

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    I would imagine that it was less of a lie of saying falsehood and more of a lie of omission. I'd imagine that Starfleet viewed it in that context when they made their decision about allowing him to remain a Starfleet officer and a practicing doctor.
     
  8. JarodRussell

    JarodRussell Vice Admiral Admiral

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    The idea that the Federation, of all things, would discriminate and punish genetically enhanced people (especially those who were enhanced in their childhood, well before legal age of consent), is crazy anyways. Just because there was one or two warlords among them. That's prejudice, racism, genetism, whatever.
     
  9. T'Girl

    T'Girl Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Have you ever be a party/participant to a major crime, or conspiricy to conceal same?



    :)
     
  10. MacLeod

    MacLeod Admiral Admiral

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    We can't say for sure, but if there was a place for ciitzenship, would it not be something like place of birth, and no doubt his Birth certificate would be stored electronically. So fairly easy to match up.
     
  11. vulcan redshirt

    vulcan redshirt Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    Two thoughts:
    1 - unless he were jailed (for what exactly, given that it was his father who committed the crime, rather than Dr Bashir), in the eyes of the starfleet brass, the prospect of Bashir being out of starfleet and hence uncontrolled, and potentially running off to a non-aligned system and using his medical genius for less than meritable purposes was far more concerning than making an exception to the standard procedures to keep an eye on what he was doing.

    2 - Maybe Section 31 had something to do with it, and that was the bargaining chip Sloane had to recruit him with later.
     
  12. JirinPanthosa

    JirinPanthosa Admiral Admiral

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    Exactly. It makes no sense for the Starfleet we know to treat people like inferior citizens just because their parents did something to them when they were young.

    And if they were going to introduce that idea they should have explored it better. So I'm a genetically enhanced person. I don't have any terrible maladaptive personality disorder, so I'm not put away. And legally I'm not allowed to enter the fields I want, instead I'm lectured about Khan Singh and told to contribute in other ways. What am I going to do? Not stick around in the Federation obviously, I'll move somewhere else, and live however I damn well want to live.

    The only other genetically enhanced people were the crazies. Why did we never see one who just told the Federation to screw off and joined some mercenary crew? How come none of the ones who did what they were told and 'Contributed in other ways' flipped out and started demanding the same treatment Bashir got?

    They not only came up with a terrible storyline, they ignored the obvious implications that were inconvenient.
     
  13. Nerys Myk

    Nerys Myk A Spock and a smile Premium Member

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    How does being an augment change where he was born? He wasn't even augmented until after his seventh birthday.
     
  14. Skywalker

    Skywalker Admiral Admiral

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    I kind of think the genetic enhancement storyline would have worked better if his parents hadn't told him about it, and he didn't find out until the episode in question. What a blow that would have been to Bashir's confidence and self-esteem.
     
  15. doctorfoto

    doctorfoto Commodore Commodore

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    I think there would be less of an issue of Bashir's Federation citizenship, but certainly Bashir would have had to submit to routine medical exams and screenings as we know that Starfleet Officers often need to do. Of course, being CMO of the station would allow him to easily bypass any medical scrutiny he would need to go through - so I think maintaining THAT kind of a cover-up over the years would have been the most damning thing to Bashir's Starfleet career more than anything.
     
  16. Bad Thoughts

    Bad Thoughts Vice Admiral Admiral

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    ^You don't think the SF Academy entrance procedure requires producing a complete medical history? It does for the American military academies.
     
  17. doctorfoto

    doctorfoto Commodore Commodore

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    Oh no - I absolutely think that. The dialogue in the episode explicitly states it:

    From Bashir:
    ... So yeah, clearly Bashir and/or his parents pulled some strings and falsified records to get him into Starfleet (as Bashir said his folks had previously done so when he transferred schools as a child), and, as I said - his position in Starfleet Medical probably helped in allowing him to keep a low profile. The enhancement was a crime to be sure - but the necessity of covering of it up over the years probably muddied the waters even further.
     
  18. jimbotron

    jimbotron Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Voyager's reset button had a cameo in this episode. ;)
     
  19. JirinPanthosa

    JirinPanthosa Admiral Admiral

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    That depends whether you think a routine medical scan would perform a complete DNA analysis.

    As we know, in the Star Trek universe a routine physical involves laying on your back and pumping your legs on an inverted stairmaster. I'm not sure that would out Bashir as as augment.

    Unless somebody was directly comparing his IQ tests when he was 6 to his IQ tests when he was 8 or doing a complete genetic scan which I assume is only done in utero to correct any genetic diseases or in the case of unexplained diseases, how would anybody be able to discover he was an augment?
     
  20. JarodRussell

    JarodRussell Vice Admiral Admiral

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    It's the 24th century. A tricorder can make a DNA analysis in a minute.