OK Jim, if that's your beef then I agree - the school authorities need to get their act together. But this isn't "authoritarianism", it's just crap organisation. It feels like you're overstating the problem a bit. Now petty bureaucracy *is* annoying, but your co-workers are in the situation of "no-one ever got fired for doing what they were told". If you suggest improvements to the system and you're right, you look good; but criticising the system and getting it wrong might carry a black mark on your record.

No uni is going to barricade the perimeters to stop the public getting in. But equally, no uni is going to say "oh yeah, all you guys just come in and use our PCs and wander round our million-dollar labs whenever you like". Somewhere between the two there needs to be a compromise. ID cards to tell who has a right to be there would be a reasonable compromise, because it doesn't cause anyone any inconvenience.

I don't see though how you and your co-workers can get so upset over this that you're yelling at each other, unless you're presenting the issue badly. If you start by saying "the rule is stupid" then you've insulted your boss (and anyone else who thinks the rule is OK), and no-one will then listen to your justifications, it'll just turn into a fight. If you say "the rule is inconsistent, and we could improve it by doing XYZ" then you've got scope for rational discussion.

Something I else thought of. When you check the slip, do you also check that their ID has the same name on it as is printed on the slip, and refuse to give it to anyone else? If not, I'd be worried!

Graham.