But there's a difference between outbound access and proxyed access. If they required a login to a HTTP proxy (like back at Colonial), then there's really no reason why the proxy wouldn't be allowed to talk to port 8080 for you. Except for misguided configuration. This is the usual cause, AFAIK, of workplace connectivity problems.
I'd tell your manager about and see if you can get his help in rattling whoever set the proxy up to fix it. At the very least you should find out if it was intentional (perhaps even why) or accidental.
Wade.