I am not sure about the title of the series of articles that the NZ Herald is running in response to the Brash Taskforce, but the first from Auckland University Vice-Chancellor Stuart McCutcheon is a good one.  I don’t agree with McCutcheon in terms of his comments re interest free student loans and student support, but his overall view that we must increase funding for research and education is undoubtedly true, and the real lack of doing this is one of the great shames of New Zealand’s response to the recession.  The full article is worth a read, but this paragraph probably sums it up

I would invest in education, valuing our teachers – from pre-school to professors – as the professionals they truly are. I would focus on supporting our most able students to continue on to postgraduate study and research careers, rather than terminating the very scholarships that keep our best doctoral students in New Zealand, as the government has recently done.