Research Vs Teaching

I'm wondering where LM in general and Claire Fox in particular stand on the issue of research and teaching. In LM and at conference Claire makes it clear that research and teaching must be intertwined that, that I agree with, and I certainly oppose Ron Dearing's recomendations. However I feel that Claire defends reseach a little too much. Saying that research is essential to better society's knowledge is true, however teaching is important too. At the college I go to it would seem that lecturers are desperate to abandon the ship of teaching. This combined with cost cutting has had a detrimental on the quality of teaching students receive. As one American professor once said: "we all know what 'research university' means, 'to hell with the undergraduates,'"

It is true that students at my college are treated with contempt. Last year we had "seen papers" in our exams, a way of saying "fuck off students, we don't care what quality of education you receive". Teaching tends to be shunted off to the least experianced members of staff, many of whom work part-time. , while more senior lecturers try to secure full-time research. Students are simply processed through college and expected to pass and secure more funding. Surely this is caused by a turn away from teaching and not towards it.

Martin