Sixth Form Mercury Wilson’s School’s newest student-run publication
Volume 2, Issue 1, March 2011
A poignant insight into the prison system It takes great courage and openness to declare yourself a convicted criminal before an audience of sixth formers and their teachers. Whilst the speaker introduced himself as Erwin James, that name is actually a pseudonym; James' real name was only recently disclosed to the public, in his Guardian article The real me. Before his prison sentence, his full name was Erwin James Monahan, but he dropped his surname after his release in 2004. When speaking before the sixth-form, James' immense remorse soon became obvious, and his regret manifested itself in the opening lines of his speech, which provided a background to him and the reasons behind his conviction. the newspaper an article, the editor approved, and from then on it became a regular fixture. The prison officers were originally sceptical about the prospect of James writing for a national newspaper, but after He spoke at length about his life before prison. The most harrowing account was of some deliberation, he was given a chance and it paid off. James said that he rarely his time spent living homeless; a group of schoolchildren discovered him sleeping in a asked for anything throughout his life, but derelict bathroom, much to his embarrass- he was forced to when it came to writing for The Guardian. ment. At the time, James considered it to be the lowest moment in his life. But his situation worsened still: after the murders, Prison life was often brutal. James reminisced about makeshift weapons used by jailed he fled to France where he joined the convicts: for instance, some inmates attached French Foreign Legion, and finally turned two razor blades to the end of a himself in in 1984 to the British Consul in toothbrush and used it to injure other prisNice. During his trial, the Old Bailey judge oners. The cuts were large and difficult to described James as "brutal, vicious and stitch, often resulting in a thick scar recallous". Yet his present self is vastly ferred to as a "mars bar". Yet in spite of the changed. He is deeply ashamed of his According to James, prisons are a social horrible events that he witnessed in prison, crime, and is a prime example of how utility which act much like hospitals or such as the suicide of a fellow inmate who prison can indeed rehabilitate prisoners. schools. They are not - and should not be viewed as - sinister buildings lurking some- The question is, what process did James go resided on the level above him, Erwin James has been fully rehabilitated. He has where on the outreaches of British society. through in order to change in this way? a prestigious job at a national newspaper, Instead, prisons are a valuable resource to and his column is well worth reading for both the public and the government. They His description of his time in prison was a anyone interested in prison life and the offer rehabilitation for convicts, and aim to colourful juxtaposition between two mental justice system. He is also a published author, conditions: discontent mingled with deslot these criminals back into society as and should subsequently feel very proud of spondency, and a slowly accumulating safely and efficiently as possible. Subsehis achievements outside prison. I wish to sense of purpose and hope. The latter quently James condemned the bad reputapersonally congratulate him on his speech, stage - the accumulation of purpose and tion of prisons: people often regard them not just for his genuine remorse, but also as remote institutions exclusively focused hope - first arose due to the input of a prison psychologist. James was encouraged for the excellent insight he offered into the on containing dangerous people, when in prison system. to pursue English, particularly writing, fact they are a crucial aspect of Britain's which he excelled at during his school social infrastructure. Besides, as James Darren Mindham years. This eventually led to his column stated in his speech, only 38 convicts will being published in The Guardian; he sent never be released. The rest will be abJames was convicted of murder alongside his co-accused William Ross. James was found guilty, and served twenty years of a life sentence. During his incarceration, he became the first prison inmate to write a regular newspaper column (A life inside, published in The Guardian). In his speech, James avoided a lengthy discussion about the precise nature of his crime, which was naturally understandable; moreover, the exact details of the offence were unrelated to the main body of his talk. For instead of delivering a speech solely about his own crime, he spoke about the justice system in general, the role of prison in society, and the importance of rehabilitation instead of punishment.
sorbed back into society at some stage, so it’s in our best interest to make the prison system as effective as possible.
Sixth Form Mercury, March 2011
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What’s Inside?
An introduction from the editors Tom Sutherland and Matt Tijou founded Mercury last year. However, due to the pressures of their A2 exams, they decided to step down from their position as co-editors. Mercury will now be edited by us, Darren Mindham and Will Roberts. The newspaper will print every fortnight, and will encompass a wide range of articles on a variety of different topics, including sport, school news, film/music reviews and creative writing. We strongly encourage any students interested in writing articles to contact us. Darren Mindham and Will Roberts
Article
Page
A poignant insight into the prison system
1
Words from the editors
2
True Grit
2
The Oscars
3
Steve Jones on Genetics
3
Sheepish Thoughts
4
Riman’s Roundup
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True Grit Review It’s been quite a while since we’ve had a Western in the cinema, and it’s not really a genre I have much understanding of. I’ve seen Once Upon a Time in the West, but that film was completely lost on me; my attention was wasted on marvelling at how out of place the speech seemed with the actual film, and so I can count True Grit as my introduction into the world of cowboys, outlaws and Injuns (Red Dead Redemption notwithstanding).
audience constantly struggles to interpret what he's saying. Steinfeld is extraordinarily serious for a fourteen year old girl, and Damon’s acting is - sadly nothing to comment on. It was good, but not great, and the character melds well with the others. The other actors are good enough to get the film through, with no one aside from Ross and Cogburn being truly memorable for their acting. Luckily they don’t appear in the film for too long anyway, and for the Except there was very little in the way of most part we’re left with our three main cowboys or Injuns: the only Native characters. American in True Grit was being hanged and the closest thing to a cow was a Not that it’s a bad thing, as we’re allowed strange outlaw who occasionally mooed. plenty of time to see characters halfSo we are stuck with outlaws, but for the bond as far as their disingenuous tolerance most part you see little of them either. of each other will allow. We follow these Unfortunately, this is a Western where characters on their long journey, and the shooting and action plays second experience a profound sense of isolafiddle to the drama, characters and tion during the voyage. Often we’re not story. Not that that’s necessarily a bad given any ambience music at all; instead, thing, but it was hardly what I had envi- we are left to stew in the drama of sioned when the film's drunken main what’s happening on screen in all its character was handed a bunch of revolvers. Drunken gunman Rooster Cogburn, expertly played by Jeff Bridges, is a US Marshall hired by fourteen year-old Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld), to go after the murderer of her father who has fled into the wilderness. They are accompanied by Texas Ranger LaBoeuf, the role taken up by Matt Damon, to track him down. The acting here is commendable, with only a few hiccups. Though Bridges captures Cogburn excellently, there are moments, particularly near the beginning of the film, where his speech is almost unintelligible. These moments, humorous as they are, do tend more on the side of exasperating: the
cinematic glory. It certainly delivers on its promise of grittiness. The action, when it happens, is brutal and realistic, and the general feeling of the film is incredibly dark and depressing. Not exactly a picture for the faint of heart, certainly, but it all works and feels genuine. The title is very apt, therefore: everything in the movie feels true, and it certainly has a tonne of grit in it. All in all, True Grit delivers, but don’t arrive expecting a classic Western shootem-up. For all that stuff, stick to the safe and generally accepted classics. For everyone else who wants a great film with more drama than destruction, see it while you can. Martyn Long
Sixth Form Mercury, March 2011
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The Oscars Commentary It may be tedious television and most of the winners are unbearably predictable and chosen for all the wrong reasons. And yes, Anne Hathaway and Franco (beautiful as they are) are the most annoying presenters who aren’t Ant and Dec. But at least Natalie Portman looked like an angel - she’s so pretty!
they might have let the elderly duo to host the night rather than the "hip and trendy" children they had instead.
only $14 million, as well as for British cinema.
It also marks what may well be the last hurrah for the UK Film Council, which is now being scrapped by Cameron and friends. Colin Firth said that "scrapping the UK Film Council was short-sighted". Iain Canning, one of the film's producers, Whatever you think of the Oscars, it’s said it "wouldn’t have been made hard to avoid the buzz surrounding the without the UK Film Council". But the event and the prestige it brings for the cuts don’t stop there - the planned clowinners. Trent Reznor, who won the sure of the Croydon Clocktower, includaward for best original score on The Soing the David Lean cinema (an intimate cial Network, said it was "humbling art-house style theatre with selections of But the movie that stole the show was less commercial films), further demonand flattering beyond words". undoubtedly The King’s Speech, which reigned triumphantly with four Academy strates that our government cares little about the culture industry. Nevertheless, There were, fortunately, a few fantastic Award wins: Best Actor, Best Director, the overwhelming success of The King’s moments to keep the show watchable; Best Original Screenplay and Best Film. Speech is still a fantastic victory for namely, when they brought out 93 year- Colin Firth, finally rewarded by the British cinema. old Kirk Douglas like an ageing yet Academy, delivered a charmingly loveable pet, which was his cue to give a awkward acceptance speech for his Andre Elston barely coherent introduction to the Best fantastic performance, while David Seidler accepted his award on behalf of Supporting Actress category. Another stutterers everywhere. The film’s success, great moment was Franco’s grandmother revealing her celebrity crush on both at the awards and the box-office, displayed a great victory for independent "Marky Mark" Wahlberg who was cinema on a film made on a budget of nominated for Best Actor. In hindsight, Natalie Portman accepted her award for her dangerous yet touching performance in Aronofsky’s Black Swan. Christian Bale was awarded with Best Supporting Actor for his convincing portrayal of Dicky in The Fighter. Inception won for Cinematography, Sound and Visual Effects, which was richly deserved, since it was by far the best-looking film of the year.
Steve Jones on Genetics Lecture When people think of famous modern scientists, the usual names given are Richard Dawkins, Brian Cox and maybe Stephen Hawking. Ask about biologists and you may receive a shorter list, possibly only containing Charles Darwin for some! However, on the 2 March, I had the chance to experience a talk from an esteemed modern scientist, Steve Jones. He has written many books that are clear and easy to understand, which many students use to get a grasp of popular science.
black and white coats; this is due to the different gene expressions of melanin. This is the genetic contribution. However, an enzyme which breaks down melanin can be reduced or encouraged by temperature difference. This is the environmental factor; in fact he jokingly suggested a way to mass-produce black or white cats is to put Siamese cats into a fridge or into an oven. This idea is crucial to understanding the inheritance of genetic diseases such as cardiovascular disease (CVD): having the apolipoprotein E expression gene in a person inAn expert in genetics, he is a professor in creases their chance of suffering CVD UCL’s genetics department and shows a and speeds up atheroma formation, lifetime of experience with genetics dat- which is the genetic factor of CVD, whilst ing from its infancy to its now cutting smoking may be an environmental facedge progress. At the lecture itself he tor. Jones also spoke about obesity, and discussed the idea of Nature vs. Nurture produced some shocking figures about and how in the end the answer is quite the relative risk of people with high BMIs redundant: with genes it could be one suffering from disorders such as diabeway or the other. Steve Jones used the tes, CVD and osteoporosis. example of a Siamese cat to describe this idea. The example went something like Later, he proceeded to discuss werethis: Siamese cats have a mixture of wolves and the British royal family. By
talking about the trends in George IV’s porphyria as well as Prince Charles’ ears, he tried to explain human supernatural behaviour as well as the genetics of werewolves. Some interesting ideas were explored here, such as whether people with porphyria acted like werewolves because they felt they had to, due to the hostile environment they might have been in. Lastly, he finished off with a battle of the sexes. According to much research and genetic screening, girls are much better than guys. Men tend to be murdered more, commit murders more frequently, and suffer from more illnesses than women, as well as suffering from higher stress levels. When asked about the benefits of being a man, he answered “none” followed by a statement that they do all the work, much to the chagrin of the vast quantity of girls there at the lecture. Calum Perera
Sixth Form Mercury, March 2011
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Sheepish Thoughts So here’s my little niche of the paper where I’ll be exploiting the chance to talk about all things metal and alt in the ever changing amorphous blob that is the global music scene. Tech metal, 80s hardcore, French bubblegum groove metal - you name it, we’ve got it, so without further ado let’s dive in.
aspirations to the likes of You Me At Six and All Time Low.
So stop. Put down the James Blake album and reach for Japanese InstruAt the heart of this digital-era approach, mental tech-metallers Animals As driving the genre to ever spiralling Leaders’ self-titled magnum opus. It’s heights, is pendulum-come-death metal edgier than a circle. Or if you’re not feelhybrid, Periphery. Never heard of them? ing brave enough, check out Periphery’s Well you will. This year they’re up in new video for their song "Icarus Lives". Knebworth at the UK leg of internation- It’s five star material. Those of you hitally renowned metal fest, Sonisphere, This week I want to start with some ting Sonisphere later this year, be sure to having just finished their European tour look out for them and prog-metal legmusings on what you can expect of an emerging alternative subgenre that’s (the League of Extraordinary Djentlemen ends, Protest The Hero. If nothing else, I been making waves out in the underground tour) with Croydon based tech metallers can promise you you’ll never have heard Tesseract and the minor deities that are nor seen anything quite like it. scene: Djent. Similar to technical and progressive metal, it’s the bastard child the members of prog-metal band, of mathrock and hardline techno and it’s Monuments. In a fortnight's time, I’ll be checking out coming to a town near you. Characterthe latest crossover in the long history of ised by digitised guitar licks, computer Forget scene kids, indie groupies or bob- dubstep-metal mélanges with a peak at generated drum rhythms and synth that ble-head electro addicts, this here is a the monster that is deathstep. It’s got wouldn’t sound out of place at a Crystal self-contained world of nerds, techbass blasts, distortion and deathcore god Castles gig, it’s the daddy of all gear and heads and gear fanatics. Think twenty Mitch Lucker from US based Suicide Sitech-based niche genres. It’s metal for bar ostinatos, esoteric Japanese lyrics lence. The future’s coming and it’s got a nerds and it’s the best thing I’ve heard in and more killswitches and foot pedals bass line. a long time from a genre that’s become than you can shake a stick at. But don’t overpopulated by hordes of emo-pop let that put you off. They’re lovely really, Alex Nash boy bands wielding cans of hairspray and honest.
Riman’s Roundup This year’s Premier League has been as riveting as any we have seen in the past. We have seen major clubs flex their economic biceps with Chelsea shelling out £50 million for Torres. There have been games that are sure to go down in Premier League history, most notably Newcastle United’s valiant comeback against Arsenal at St. James’ Park that saw a four-goal lead squandered by an in-form Arsenal side. The performance of newly promoted Blackpool has also been a breath of fresh air as Ian Holloway’s team show that small clubs without the financial backing that the Premier League is used to can still go out on a Saturday afternoon and entertain the nation.
battle. As the table looks, it could be argued that any team in the bottom half has the potential to be relegated this season, with a mere 5 points separating 11th place and the drop-zone. Having said this, there are some teams at this end of the league that seem to have too much quality in their squad to be relegated. In the case of Aston Villa and Fulham, sound managerial decisions from Houllier and Hughes should see them stay in the top flight for another season. However, the lesser teams in the bottom half of the table face another challenge. Harley’s Hypothesis: To be relegated -
As we approach the run-in, where every point seems vital to clubs throughout the league, many people’s eyes will be focused on whether the title will end up in Manchester, or in North London. However, it seems that the more thrilling encounters may occur at the other end of the table, as we seem to be shaping up for a classic relegation
Blackpool: Nobody wants to see David get beaten by Goliath, however it seems that the Premier League may prove to be a little too much for Blackpool. With key players set to miss important matches and tough games against Arsenal and Manchester United coming up, it will take some gritty football for Blackpool to survive. West Brom: A club famed for bouncing between the leagues, we have seen West Brom crumble in high pressure games in the past and it could well happen again. They will have to take points away from those around them if they are to stay up; their away game against Wolves in May looks already to be a pivotal game.
Wigan: Roberto Martinez is an exciting young manager, however the lack of Harley Riman depth in their squad, their weak home support and the inconsistency they have shown throughout the season are sure to see Wigan relegated to the Championship.
