This thesis examines the ongoing debate/discussion surrounding the compensation of NCAA student-athletes. While some athletes receive full academic scholarships in addition to other perks that non-athletes might not receive, this makes one wonder if the compensation programs and protocols in place are fair, particularly considering the large sums of money athletes generate for their respective universities. Through lengthy interviews with two former Division I athletes, an associate athletic director at a major university, and a journalist who has covered this polarizing topic since some of its earliest milestones, we have covered both sides of this debate in the hope that the audience can take that information and form their own, thoughtful opinions. In addition to the interviews conducted during the process of writing this paper, we also conducted an extensive literature review of some of the most in-depth stories about the major milestones in the history of this discussion. While there may not be an amicable solution, knowledge and information constitutes the most powerful element that seems to largely be missing, often replaced by emotion. We seek to contribute to the solution by showing the human side of the debate and laying out exactly what is at stake before offering what we think, after this entire process, could be the answer. The issue is explored in more depth with supplemental podcasts submitted to Barrett, the Honors College at Arizona State University.

This thesis examines the ongoing debate/discussion surrounding the compensation of NCAA student-athletes. While some athletes receive full academic scholarships in addition to other perks that non-athletes might not receive, this makes one wonder if the compensation programs and protocols in place are fair, particularly considering the large sums of money athletes generate for their respective universities. Through lengthy interviews with two former Division I athletes, an associate athletic director at a major university, and a journalist who has covered this polarizing topic since some of its earliest milestones, we have covered both sides of this debate in the hope that the audience can take that information and form their own, thoughtful opinions. In addition to the interviews conducted during the process of writing this paper, we also conducted an extensive literature review of some of the most in-depth stories about the major milestones in the history of this discussion. While there may not be an amicable solution, knowledge and information constitutes the most powerful element that seems to largely be missing, often replaced by emotion. We seek to contribute to the solution by showing the human side of the debate and laying out exactly what is at stake before offering what we think, after this entire process, could be the answer. The issue is explored in more depth with supplemental podcasts submitted to Barrett, the Honors College at Arizona State University.

Video game culture, permeated for decades by blatant sexism and discrimination, is a toxic community for many individuals. Though its humble beginnings and early games did not overtly focus on the male gaze or demographic, troubled advertising, representations, and the lack of diversity within video game companies has formed the gaming culture into an increasingly hostile and unwelcoming place– especially for women. Those who identify as women or females are often harassed, heckled, and threatened with both verbal and physical violence. Game content and marketing continues to view women as objects of sexuality and violence rather than strong protagonists. Companies have brainwashed society to embrace their commonly held belief that men and boys are the only demographics that play and enjoy games, though this is empirically proven false. The aim of this project is to examine these offenses against women within the video game community– first by exploring video game history and how it fell into its toxic present state as well as the formation of the “gamer” identity and its ramifications for women. I then recount contemporary stories and issues of harassment against women within the community. The project also includes a short student survey that was sent out to gather more data on college-aged women and their gaming habits, which yielded important data supporting previous evidence citing specific gaming communities that struggle the most with these issues. The thesis is concluded by a look into the culture of game development and its hypermasculine nature as well as justification for why companies should care about the plight of women for both ethical and fiscal reasons.

This paper discusses the parameters of my creative project, which utilizes a staged reading of scenes from John Cariani’s Almost, Maine as a means of investigating the representation of queer individuals and relationships in theatre, film, and television. The first section provides background information on Almost, Maine itself, while the second section explains the details of the project and what to expect on the day of my defense. The next section explains my purpose in developing a project centralized around queer representation, and the last two sections are personal reflections of the both my growth throughout the creative process, and the final product: the performance and talkback.

Every color that you see in film is purposely chosen by the filmmakers. The majority of film viewers do not consciously realize the role that color plays in their movie experience. Subconsciously, viewers are deeply affected by the color choices in the film as it changes moods, tones, characters, and more. By examining color in film, filmmakers are able to create better stories, therefore having a greater effect on the audience. By becoming aware of the role of color in film, audience members become better, more involved viewers.
The following project is cut into three major parts: Color Theory in Film, An Analysis of Symbolic Color, and the Technical Applications of Color in Film. Part One gives the necessary background on color theory, light theory, color mixing, color associations, and color palettes needed to understand the rest of the project. Part Two examines color symbolism and color psychology in three films, detailing their importance to the storylines in-depth. Part Three looks at the ways filmmakers employ color during post-production, principal photography, and post-production. By looking at production design, the history of color grading, and the power of lighting and cinematography, one is able to discern the different effects color creates and how that effect is created.

On The Mathematical Analysis of An Ancient Greek Tragedy (A CURE AT TROY) Using Mathematical Set Theory To Analyze Patterns In Character And Story Structure; The Production And Direction Of That Greek Tragedy Using Vectors To Direct Action And Objectives In 2-Space; And The Research, Writing, And Production Of A Reading Of A New Play (A TREE DISAPPEARS) On The Analogies Of Forestry Management Practices To Family Relationships.

Thomas Otway’s Classic, A Plot Discovered through my own theatrical adaptive process: an exploration of the relationship between power, gender, drugs, music, love, and violence. Conceptually, the piece was adapted into two worlds. The first, a blatant, elizabethan, contrastingly intense world of realism. The second, a black light neon fueled frenzy of storytelling through song and choreographed movement. The presence of these two worlds living side by side resulting in a deeper look at the effect of drug use on how we perceive our social, political, economic, and emotional climates. The proposed (and completed) time frame for adaption of the play is two semesters, followed by a semester of pre production, casting, designing, directing, and producing. The show went up in the Prism Theatre through Binary Theatre Company April 12th, 14th, and 15th, with an extension to the next weekend by popular demand.
The purpose of this project stands: An idea that sparks a passion, idea, or question in the audience that ties directly into our current political discussion, while remaining integral to the academic world, serving as one of the most concentrated locations of permission to think openly and ask difficult questions. A Plot Discovered in particular achieves this by asking what it means to have power and to not, to be a man in another man’s world, to be a woman in any man’s world, to be neither really man or woman but somewhere in between, the consequences of dictatorship and revolution, why the human condition loves to get high, as well as the devotion and blindness of love on three different levels: friendship, romance, and family. These themes serve the script as it was written in all three of the applied timelines (it’s original 1600s, the adapted 1970s, and our current) leading to the biggest question of them all, do we as humans really evolve or is it a mere illusion painted by our ability to enhance the environment around us?
The desire to adapt A Plot Discovered came during a conversation with my peers during a semester spent studying classical drama at Oxford University. As we debated the themes of the play, a guitarist played post Vietnam War era music in the street below echoing up the cobblestone street and entering our dining hall window. The result was an artistic revelation that would drive my passion into this project for the next two years. Rewriting, designing, casting, directing, and reflecting upon A Plot Discovered has proved not only the most difficult but also the most rewarding event within my undergraduate studies.
View A Plot Discovered miniature documentary here: https://vimeo.com/325355612

My thesis project entitled Petticoats for Petty Killers was a feature length screenplay intended to be a solid first draft in the area of screenwriting. The story follows a young woman named Lottie in Victorian Era London, as women in her class are murdered by a serial killer. When her best friend becomes a victim, Lottie takes it upon herself to dress up as a man and solve the crime. In order to complete this project, I began in an Introduction to Screenwriting course in order to understand the basics. From formatting, to story, and plot I learned the essentials of screenwriting. Though often lacking written detail, screenplays require a visualization of the actual film. My conception of the project came from murder mysteries, period pieces, and concepts involving hardheaded women head of their time. This included Jack the Ripper, Sherlock Holmes, The Da Vinci Code, and Outlander. I researched the victorian era with Great Courses, read screenwriting books such as Save the Cat and The Writer’s Journey, and read screenplays for films. Most helpful was the former novel and the screenplay for Silence of the Lambs, as the story followed the same flow with a strong female protagonist. I spent time drafting outlines, treatments, and character development in order to keep a strong flow and dynamic character arcs. With the basics in place, I wrote the first twenty pages (the first act) a handful of times. The outline was perfected and written out into the full eighty-three pages. With a lot of exposition, stagnant characters, weird time jumps, and too much dialogue I redid the first act another two times. Finally, my director and I determined that further changes would be reserved for later drafts, and that this first draft of eighty-three pages was complete.

BETTA, a narrative music video short film was produced by Kaitlyn Baucke and directed by June Hucko, and written by both filmmakers. By employing the knowledge and experiences gained in their academic careers, they were able to create a compelling yet experimental film that challenges the idea of whether or not people are simply compilations of their memories, and experiences. Sparked by an interest in music media, this project is in the visual style of a music video, but with a 10-minute narrative. This film lightheartedly tells the story of a young woman whose most cherished memories are always accompanied by a meal of tacos. Each memory is memorialized through the collection and personalization of receipts from the taco shop. After collecting hundreds and hundreds of these receipts, she reaches a turning point in her life where she finds herself overrun by her past memories, both positive and negative. She is faced with a decision in which she must choose to dwell in her past, or leave behind memories in order to move forward. The film is scored entirely by original songs of local, ASU affiliated musicians and bands. Producing this film required an extensive pre-production phase of writing, revisions, casting, securing crew, locations, equipment, funding, scheduling, and more. Setting deadlines, sticking to budget, and ensuring smooth production was key to success. From inception, to pre-production, to reflection, this project has allowed the filmmakers to experience evolution, challenges, failures, and immense creative development.

This creative project was designed to highlight the good that can come from playing video games using From Software's "Dark Souls" as a case study.In this project, I analyse "Dark Souls" as an allegory for depression, examining how the story, game play and level design all create a mindset in the game's players similar to that of those experiencing depression. I then discuss how certain aspects of the game, including level design, the game mechanics used to handle in-game death, and the passive multiplayer systems, all combine in order to encourage the player to stay engaged with the game and believing in the possibility of success. Via these systems, I believe that in creating "Dark Souls" From Software made an experience in which those grappling with depression can practice the techniques most useful in combating depression in a safe environment. Finally, I discuss the ways that "Dark Souls" designers emotionally affect those playing their game using techniques that are unavailable to other media. I highlight these storytelling devices, and explain why they are either best utilized by or only viable in video games as an example of what unique abilities gaming has as a cultural storytelling medium. I also explore solutions for discussing video game mechanics and game play with a non-gaming audience, utilizing game play recordings to provide examples of the discussed game play mechanics. These techniques can be viewed in the attached video.