Skills crisis: Minister's threat to uni on funding  By Simon
Collins  Joyce demands more engineers, but academics say change
will cost jobs.  Mr Joyce said the Budget changes brought New
Zealand's funding system closer to that of Australia. Photo /
Greg Bowker  Auckland University and the Government appear
headed for a showdown over what courses the university is
offering - and what the country needs.  Tertiary Education
Minister Steven Joyce is threatening to force the university to
take more engineering students, even though the university says
this could cause layoffs elsewhere on the campus.  This year's
Budget put an extra $42 million into engineering and $17 million
into science at universities and polytechnics - while freezing
funding for all other subjects - in a bid to ease skill
shortages in fields such as engineering and computing.  But
Auckland University vice-chancellor Stuart McCutcheon said the
increase was paid as a bulk fund, and the university did not
have to put it all into engineering and