2013–2014 Staff
Amaris Ketcham, Faculty Advisor
Jordan Burk, Editor in Chief
Claire Stasiewicz, Managing Editor
Kara Filipas, Office Manager
Samantha Andrews
Neethi Baskaran
Keriden Brown
Sergio Carrasco
Georgia Lillian Casswell
Mikayla Griego
Austin Miller
Jesse Montoya
Colin Ross
Aleshia Zaragoza

What you’ll find in this issue:
The 2014 edition of Scribendi features work by 43 contributors from 19 schools. We are excited to showcase this year’s selection of student work from honors students throughout the entire Western region. This year we feature a dynamic set of open media pieces that include two conceptual architecture designs.

For a $10 donation (to cover the cost of shipping) you can get your own copy of this edition of Scribendi here. You can view a PDF of this edition here.

Below are our Open Media pieces for this year. Enjoy!

Footsteps_in_Flight

Divya Raghani
Arizona State University

Footsteps in Flight is an architectural concept focused on capturing the movements of the red-tailed hawk. It is intended to create a dynamic experience for those wishing to view the hawk’s flight at various times throughout the day.
Commentary by Scribendi staff.

Alexander Kusztyk
Saddleback Community College

Beginning with a frantic grace note, “Ode to Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio” brings the anguished soul of the master painter to life. Caravaggio’s paintings are considered some of the most revolutionary pieces of the time. It is difficult to definitively say anything about Caravaggio because there is still much speculation about the life and death of the artist.
At the age of eleven, Caravaggio was an apprentice under the painter Simone Peterzano. Over time, his paintings became his own, with touches of realism and darkness. These images caused controversy among his patrons and the public alike, especially his religious interpretations, but they also led him to success.
Caravaggio was known as a ruffian and drinker with a temper who always had a sword at his side. In 1606, Caravaggio’s violence climaxed with the murder of a well-known Roman. There are several theories as to why the murder occurred: a tennis match, a love affair, or an unpaid debt. Caravaggio fled Rome and took refuge in many locations over the following months. He attacked a man in Malta and was imprisoned in 1608. In 1609, he had a brawl with a painter outside a tavern and disfigured the man’s face. By 1610, Caravaggio started making his way back to Rome to receive pardon from the Pope and thus avoid punishment for the crimes he had committed.
The death of Caravaggio is still a mystery. It is speculated that he died of poisoning from prolonged exposure to lead-based paints.
This piece is composed as a tarantella, a traditional folk dance with origins predating the Roman Empire. The tarantella is named for the tarantula, a wolf spider common in Southern Italy. Legend has it that a bite from the tarantula sends victims into a severe state of delirium that ends in climatic death. To avoid succumbing to its poisonous bite, people would dance to cure the poison by sweating it out of the body. The tarantella is a perfect fit for ill-fated Caravaggio.
Commentary by Scribendi staff. 

Tim Sanchez
Colorado State University

“Drinks Are Literally on the House” is a piece of music written entirely on the music sequencer of Media Molecule’s game Little Big Planet 2.

“There are no days more full than those we go back to.” —Colum McCann

My parents wanted me to go outside, but I wanted to stay in and play—with Kratos and Link, Bowser and Team Rocket; friends and nemeses that became as dear to me as the kids at school and down the block. And so, as much as I might now regret ignoring my parents’ advice to, you know, actually live in the real world, I’ve got to admit—I kind of miss ’em.
They were days of sweeter enchantments and simpler pursuits; languid days spent scampering through the Lost Woods in Ocarina of Time. Or biting nails—down to my last Pokémon in my struggle against the Elite Four, with no full restores, potions, or ethers to speak of. Need I go on?
“Drinks” taks me back there, yet it’s also contemporary. It’s got a little big of something for everyone, drawing from the wells of chiptune, dubstep, trap, and synthpop. From its searing hook in the intro to its downright wobble around the minute and a half mark to its trap-like foray around the two minute mark, and through to its D.C. al Coda finish, “Drinks” is the perfect musical accompaniment for a kid on a quest to save the princess—or the planet. Add in the fact that it was made entirely on the music sequencer of Little Big Planet 2, and you’ve got on killer synthesis of music and video games. Now where did I leave that GameCube….
Commentary by Scribendi staff. 

Marissa Thompson
Western Oregon University
WRHC Award Winner: Open Media

Ever wondered what it’d be like to get friend-zoned by your breakfast cereal? Well, honestly, neither have we. Fortunately for us all, the WRHC member schools boast some of the most creative minds in the country; students who ask the tough questions like: “What is the meaning of life?” and “What an I really going to do with my degree in Peloponnesian History?”
Marissa Thompson is just such a dreamer, channeling her own creative bravado into “Enjoy Me as a Snack,” a charming little short that’s sure to get you asking: “Does my cereal look at me the way it used to?” So, Scribendi reader, put down that spoon and don’t take another bite of that Cookie Crisp until you check out “Enjoy Me as a Snack.” You’re sure to be reminded that there are few things in this life more intimate than breakfast.
Commentary by Scribendi staff. 

appreciate_the_machine

Divya Raghani
Arizona State University

Appreciate the Machine is an architectural concept intended to focus the living space around the culinary rooms, combining the kitchen and dining room to enhance appreciation or meal preparation.
Commentary by Scribendi staff.