Re: Poor you
"Students have never paid more for the higher education than they do now. The tax payer is steadily reducing the available subsidies to higher education, and has been for decades."
So essentially students have been freeloading off the tax payer for years and now you're upset because you're asked to take resposibility for what you cost the country (which is made up of tax payers who fund it's continued operation). The tax payer subsidy does not need reducing, it needs removing completely, and students should take responsibility for their education, like companies and individuals have to in the private sector.
"Bandwidth? Yeah, the university pays for it through a combination of corporate R&D money and student fees, and the taxpayer benefits from the enormous pipes that university institutions have laid between them (and a few taxpayer subsidies implied - good use of money IMHO)."
No, we don't benefit, the pipes are part of JANET (again paid for by the tax payer), if you want a truly good use of tax payer subsidies, try superfast broadband for 100% of the UK, in case you've not noticed the roll out is being slowed down to consumers by the massive investment required by the private sector. I don't see the benefit to me from the high bandwidth JANET network.
"I wouldn't pass too much blame onto the media studies students either - they pay 9 grand same as I would if I was studying engineering. My labs and full week of lectures cost considerably more than their space in the library and their 5 hours contact time a week. I think if you look at the books, they're paying the subsidies to train engineers and doctors - you know, these people that you and society has come to take for granted."
Yes, and exactly what does a media studies graduate do for a living, I can't think of a valid use for one of them, and if they can't be found ause for, the loan doesn't get paid back and that costs the country. As far as taking engineers and doctors for granted..you're joking, I pay via tax and NI for the doctors in this country, and I work with 30+ engineers at one of the sites I look after and have respect for their field and their education, they actually do produce something valid - a profit for the company employing them!
"For the time being, executives in industry listen to their scare stories of viruses and pen drives being open gateways to the pirates in the East who will steal all IP they can get their hands on (i'm not arguing that these are false threats), but the world is changing, and corporations will have to start tackling this problem head on."
These are not scare stories as anone with 20+ years experience in running and securing systems will tell you. the recent PRISM scandal should tell you all you need to know, and if you don't see the relevance, then it proves you've never had to be accountable for IP and data protection in the real World.
" I've often heard that brand new graduates are often the cause of the most major security breaches at corporations. When that is happening, it's time to up your game."
Wrong, it's time for you to grow up and learn to follow corporate IT policy, you're paid to do a job according to company rules, learn how to do it or there is a P45 in your near future.
"Restrictions that work with your current employees do NOT work with my generation, we've had years in school to learn how to circumvent filters to do what we want, and to use our IT for our purposes efficiently. IT security is generally not something we take seriously, but that is your problem to solve"
No, you follow the restriction or you don't have a job, employees do not dictate policy, you learn to work within it or you're shown the door. If you don't like it, a job on the checkout a Morrisons beckons.
"It's getting to the point where I can either obey IT policy or I can do my job, but not both"
When you actually have had a few real jobs with resposibility, and you have experience, come back and start talking with some facts under your belt. I have 25 years under my belt and given the attitude of people like you, many more to come!