Sixth Form Mercury Wilson’s School’s newest student-run publication
Volume 2, Issue 14, April 2013
Uni-d this Information! For those of us in the Upper 6th, who don’t have an Oxbridge offer to make up our minds for us, we are going on a final round of threehour train journeys and horrendously boring student finance talks, trying to find a uni we can stomach giving £27,000 to.
Skip the student finance talk. Do you want to spend half an hour being told that this university has the same student finance policy as the last 5 universities you’ve visited by a 45 year old bloke, who chuckles after his half hearted attempt at banter about ‘last night’s game’? Just visit the student finance stall where his colleague will tell you all you need to know in about three minutes.
Many of you in the lower sixth have not yet experienced the bleary-eyed 6:04 to Sheffield. It’s a bit rubbish, but it has to be done Go on a campus tour instead. Uni open days are a valuable way to get an impression of Steer the conversation away and who knows, you may even find it slightly worthfrom management-approved where you’re going to spend three years and £27,000 while. So we’ve compiled a ‘interesting facts’ about the guide of ‘helpful tips’ and history of the Great Hall and ended up sounding worryingly like your Consider going without your parents. talk about the stuff you will actually care mum. Ever tried asking what the night life is like about at university. whilst stood next to your dad? Exactly. BEFORE YOU GO Go to a taster lecture. As well as being a Do your research. Look on university WHILST YOU ARE THERE last chance check that you care about websites. Look at the course and the acaWalk around. If you are early, walk to the your course, it also gives you a chance to demics. Is it worth visiting? Make sure uni. Get a bit lost. Get a feel for the city. judge the teaching quality and will hopeyou can ask more interesting questions Keep a look out for interesting shops or fully be quite interesting. than ‘what’s in the course?’ Even look at whatever else the area might throw at the waste of cyberspace that is The Stuyou. Could you live here for three years? Talk to the academics. Even if you don’t dent Room. In between kids fretting that have any specific questions about the their B grade at RE GCSE will see them Talk to the student ambassadors. Altcourse, ask about their speciality and see instantly rejected from LSE and lonely hough they are generally on the universiif you would be happy to learn from guys crying their hearts out to the uninty’s payroll, they are often friendly and them. terested internet about the lack of fehelpful. Just bear in mind that you may males in their lives, there is the occasionnot get a truthful answer to an awkward Speak to the other people on the open al worthwhile post on there. The ‘ask a question, especially if a member of staff is day. They are a cross section of the unifresher’ threads can give you a taste of in earshot. versity’s applicants and, at the offer holduni life, even if it is (probably) just one ers open day, the people you could pointernet nerd’s opinion. Visit the Student Union. The SU organise tentially be sitting next to in lectures. It’s Fresher’s Week, student societies and healthy to talk to strangers and if you can Get a student rail card. Dull fact of the many of your nights out. Have a chat and find a few like minded people at the open day: they only cost £28 but get you 1/3 see what’s going on. They will also be far day then you will probably fit in come off almost all journeys. more willing to tell you about any grievSeptember. ances they have against the university. Visit in term time. It isn’t always possible, but you don’t quite pick up a university’s Pick up the student paper. If there is anyatmosphere when the only people about thing wrong with the university, in true are the academics and a handful of lonely journalistic spirit, they will jump at it and By Louis Woodhead students. blow it way out of proportion.
Sixth Form Mercury, April 2013
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Dear All, Article
Page
The time for exams returns after a measly six weeks of lurking in the deep, dark recesses of our broken folders and crammed diaries. So, naturally, revision is driving us all to jump off bridges and pull that trigger that looks ‘ever so tempting’.
Information uni-d
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Message from the editors
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The monarchy question
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Well, before you do, have a read of this. It’ll probably cheer you all up a bit... Miserable sods.
Two nights of Twelfth Night
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The logic of Lorenzo
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Happy revising!
Kane Walpole and Nikhil Vyas
The Monarchy Question By Nikhil Vyas For those of you who follow the Chinese Zodiac, 2013 is apparently the Year of the Snake. Somewhat appropriately, the snake represents unscrupulous dealings and cunning - perfect for any budding politicians out there. My own zodiac sign, the Year of the Pig, doesn’t swing around until 2019, meaning I have to wait a whole six years before I can truly celebrate my supposedly passionate and determined nature. 2012, however, was the Year of the Monarchy. Between the glorified boat parade that was the Diamond Jubilee, the unbridled jingoism of the Olympics and, recently, the wonderfully ‘unexpected’ news of Kate Middleton’s pregnancy, the Royal Family have had more than their fair share of tax-payer funded publicity. And there’s no indication that it’ll end: what with the most titled offspring of the decade entering the world this year, as well as the impending demise of our current Queen (we can be reasonably sure that this medieval institution will stay around for a while longer).
important is the unquantifiable influence that the monarch holds across the country, through patronage or charity, along with the Royal Prerogative that allows her to declare war without support from Parliament. Monarchists are fond of claiming that the lack of written constitution in this country, coupled with the ambiguity of having a seemingly powerless figure as Head of State, represents the ‘perfect kind of government’, yet this is based on the assumption that a monarch has less of a propensity to start a nuclear war than a democratically elected president. And if it comes to it, I'd rather have someone with a popular mandate and experience with their finger on the button. Other arguments are economic: the Daily Telegraph smugly told readers that the monarchy only costs 62p a year per adult, yet this does not account for the royal security detail assigned to royal figures, or expenses such as the Royal Wedding or Diamond Jubilee.
Yet why does the monarchy inspire such devotion? Almost all the institutional relics of Britain's past are slipping: House of Lords reform is on the agenda, the Supreme Court is now the final court of appeal and even the Church of England is changing its traditional stance on gay marriage and women clergy - but the legitimacy of the Royal Family still goes unquestioned.
And whilst the monarchy may apparently bring in more money than it costs through tourism, this is also based on the false supposition that without a royal family, we would automatically lose all visitors for royal houses and other sites. Look at France’s Palace of Versailles: now a proud symbol of the overthrow of a tyrannical regime, and one of the country’s most popular destinations.
Whilst it may seem that very little power is held by the monarchy - all the Queen essentially does is sign laws and formally appoint the Prime Minister - what is more
Which leads to my final point: monarchists pretend that without the royal family, there would be no focal point for British unity. This couldn’t be further
from the truth: Britain has one of the richest heritages in the world. Between Shakespeare, Newton, Darwin, Brunel, Dickens and the rest of the pantheon of national figures, combined with everything this country has been through, we have more than enough history to be proud of. At the heart of it, however, the monarchy is such a deep-rooted institution that whose validity people are afraid to discuss. It’s left to individuals like Morrissey to deliver the occasional rant and be labelled deranged, or boring, or unpatriotic. Yet this is the greatest enemy of a free state - when an issue can no longer be fairly discussed, then we must genuinely question the values of our society. Especially when that issue is one that flies in the face of any democratic principle: the idea of having a political position that is unattainable purely because of whose child you are. It’s not fair on us, it’s not fair on the royals themselves (face it: would you want to live your life, from cradle to grave, with the whole world watching you?) and it’s not fair on the values of this country: rationality, decency and pointlessness. Though, perhaps, it fulfils the last of those three.
Sixth Form Mercury, April 2013
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Two Nights of Twelfth Night
By Marcus Bird
Adam Ant, Madonna, The Human League, Culture Club, David Bowie, Madness and ... Shakespeare.
adding to the concept of misunderstandings that is pervasive in Twelfth Night.
An eclectic mix of eighties legends and the most famous playwright in the world came together in Mr Kavanagh’s unashamedly camp production of Twelfth Night.
The costumes deserve a special mention too: Barbara pulled out all the stops in ensuring that every character was a near perfect representation of the Eighties figure that was the inspiration behind their portrayal.
When a shipwrecked Viola (Gabriel Agranoff) stumbles into the mad world of Illyria she becomes entangled in a web of confusion, love and uncomfortably convincing cross-dressing. Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is based around the Christian tradition’s twelve days of Christmas and when the play was written these twelve days were a time of feasting, celebration and turning typical scenarios on their heads. Certainly this can be seen in the play as women dress as men, a manservant makes a committed – if naïve – attempt at wooing his lady and Feste the fool (Conrad Jefferies, of course) encourages madness and mayhem everywhere. Performing a Shakespeare comedy that is engaging for a modern audience is a feat that is rarely achieved, yet this is what the ever-growing drama group at Wilson’s has managed. Nikhil Vyas’s portrayal of Sir Toby Belch, a drunken bumbling mess, had the audience in stitches with his antics, especially the friendly mockery of his slow-witted ally Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Harry Gower). His performance was second only to Kane Walpole’s Maria in comedic value. Looking unnervingly feminine in his dress and high heels, Kane gave many of us confusing dreams that night. Another worryingly convincing transvestite in the play was Peter Chappell, playing the character Olivia. Peter’s expression of mistaken love for Gabriel’s Viola came across as heartfelt and genuine, and together the two performed several moving scenes for the audience. This was made yet more poignant by the obvious uncertainty in desire that Orsino (Alex Micallef)
Jack Taperell as Malvolio and Peter Chappell as Olivia showed throughout. One of the most surprising elements, perhaps, was the enthusiasm the cast showed for belting out Eighties classics such as Madonna’s ‘Like A Virgin’ and David Bowie’s ‘Let’s Dance’ which also led to some entertaining, if not totally choreographically perfect, dance routines. Harry Gower’s and Nikhil Vyas’s rendition of and choreography to the painfully catchy ‘Don’t You Want Me?’ had everyone in fits of laughter – dancing is definitely not their forte. Conrad, however, showed a particular flair for singing. His rendition of Culture Club’s ‘Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?’ was the perfect background for the touching scene between Alex Micallef and Gabriel Agranoff and it was impossible not to be moved by the depth of emotion that both of these promising actors projected. Jack Taperell’s Margaret Thatcherinspired Malvolio blew the crowd away as well. His comedic and moving representation of this reserved character really grappled with the deeper themes of love, servility and ambition that make up the essence of Malvolio where there is always the risk of coming across as flat or unimaginative. Conrad Jefferies’ interpretation of the witty fool Feste again provided further comic elements to the play, with the androgyny of his inspiration Boy George
The Eighties theme emphasised the hedonistic nature of the play as well as furthering the idea of confused gender identities – the androgynous disposition of the Eighties being legendary and the visual flamboyance of this theme added even more to the party atmosphere. Drama at Wilson’s seems to be growing more popular by the day and with performances like that of Twelfth Night and also The Madness of King George III (a production from earlier in the year) it is an encouraging sign for theatrelovers at the school. The drama group’s production of Twelfth Night was brilliant and no doubt everyone is looking forward to the next performance they put on.
Kane Walpole: “unnervingly feminine”
Sixth Form Mercury, April 2013
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The logic of Lorenzo
By Lorenzo Wong
The trio that helped transform British sport
It’s not difficult to come up with a list of prolific English black footballers. Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole, Sol Campbell, Ian Wright, and so on.
named them ‘The Three Degrees’ after the U.S. soul singing trio.
‘The Three Degrees’ quickly banished any sceptics as they became the core of one of But there was a time when things weren’t the most exciting and talented sides in that simple, where the terraces throughout England. Regis, a devastatingly powerful Britain were hostile and dangerous places and quick striker, made mince meat of to play in front of for those who didn’t opposition defences; Batson, a deft and conform to the prevailing stereotype. Tak- composed full back, made sure that the ing part in ‘the beautiful game’, therefore, same didn’t happen to the Albion defence. was never as attractive for black players as it is today. But the man who truly shook the foundations of British football from its dormant Yet some did brave the inevitable adversi- perceptions was Laurie Cunningham. ties in an attempt to express their talent amidst the racial discrimination. And sure This extraordinary left winger would go on enough, some began to flourish. to smash record after record. The first black player to feature in an England U21 In 1977, Johnny Giles, Leeds United legend game and an England senior competitive and then player-manager of West Brommatch. The first black player to play for wich Albion, signed youngsters Cyrille Regis Real Madrid, and the first player to play for and Laurie Cunningham in an attempt to Real Madrid and Manchester United. Most continue his club’s rise through the First stunning of all, the first and only Real MaDivision. drid player to receive a standing ovation from the Barcelona faithful at the Nou Though Giles resigned in the same year, his Camp. A Barca fan once famously relong-term replacement Ron Atkinson, who marked, “it was like seeing *Johan+ Cruyff would go on to be the predecessor at Unit- but with black skin”. ed of the great Sir Alex Ferguson, signed Brendan Batson from Cambridge United. Cunningham’s life was tragically cut short The quick-fire signing of three black players in a car crash in Madrid, aged just 33. But was unusual for the period, and sensing an what he and his fellow Albion team-mates opportunity for a laugh, Atkinson nickwould leave behind is a legacy which should last forever.
Suddenly, kids of all ethnicities across Europe began to impersonate Cunningham’s darting runs and Regis’s powerful efforts on goal. The likes of Ian Wright and Paul Ince recall how it was the Albion trio which really got them believing in a career in sport. ‘The Three Degrees’, from such humble beginnings, had begun a steady progression towards equality in British football. Nowadays, football, and sport in general, is a lot more accessible and embracing. Of the 30 players currently at the club I support, 23 are from outside the UK. But arguably the best example of equality in sport is right before our noses – our school, which has always supported and encouraged anyone with an interest in extra-curricular activities no matter one’s ability or circumstance. So, if in the near future you find yourself making your way to the astros or to the cricket nets with your mates, perhaps spare a thought for the individuals who helped make such an arrangement so harmless and ordinary through combating once harsh stereotypes. (And if you’ve found this article uninspiring, then perhaps I can make up for it by recommending to you the original Three Degrees. Some of their songs are decent.)
