Getting an error message when compiling my SCSS using the ruby compass gem.
run: /var/lib/gems/1.8/gems/compass-0.12.2/bin/compass compile
out: unchanged sas
You're generating files that don't need to be generated.
The catalog file is being compiled on its own. Since it is not importing base.scss, the variables are not set. Your screen.scss file generates as you expect because it is importing all of the necessary information.
What you want to do is rename your partials to begin with an underscore to prevent them from being compiled on their own: