Thursday, December 10, 1998 - The Michigan Daily - 5A a Schwartz sets animated film to new music SCHWARTZ Continued from Page 1A backdrop of music," Schwartz explained. When Spielberg explained the production compa- ny's intent to create a film that chronicled the human side of the story, Schwartz agreed to lend his talents. Along with the composer, the producers decided to focus more on the trials of Moses and the fraternal conflict that arises because of his religious identity. "Moses and Ramses are two brothers who grew up together, who love each other, and who support each other. Then there's a huge turn of events when the truth emerges. A man who Moses thought was his brother suddenly becomes the antagonist," Schwartz said. Although the Biblical story has no heroes or vil- lains, a conflict arises between the two brothers, Schwartz noted. The musical adaptation of the tale allows for a different interpretation of the story. Telling the tale from the human perspective allowed Schwartz to write about Moses' inner conflict and emotional reactions to the familial divide. "I tried to get inside Moses' head and write about what a real person would do in his circumstances - not just as a Biblical hero," he said. In the song covering the cycle of plagues, Schwartz concentrat- ed on what the two brothers were feeling. "Moses caused the plagues, but at the same time, they were being placed on his people, on a region that used to be his home. I also didn't want the film to be a Sunday school mouthpiece," he joked. "I tried to humanize the Sunday school story." "The Prince of Egypt" includes the song "Through Heaven's Eyes," which Schwartz denot- ed as his favorite in the film. The song covers a MSA ready to push orward with projects PCU.: "UU ( L T Ut L7r""~, " Music divas Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston are scheduled to perform the theme song from the "Prince of Egypt" on Sunday at 8 p.m. when NBC televises a special featuring music from "The Prince of Egypt." scene that spans 10 years of Moses' life. "The song is sung by Jetthro, the shepherd whose daughter Moses marries after his desert exile. It was an extremely difficult song to write because it had to cover 10 years of Moses' life in a few minutes. It's a very philosophical song," Schwartz explained. Schwartz chose to include Hebrew lyrics in two of his songs, "Deliver Us," the film's opening number and the children's chorus in "When You B lie e. While the incorporation of the religious language may seem foreign to the majority gentile audience, it accurately depicts the period culture. "I wanted to get a sense of place and time n make it authentic. 'When You Believe' comes «t the darkest moment of the film - right after the deah of the firstborn - it's a very dark and sorrowful scene. While the Jews are finally freed, they are lib- erated at a harsh cost. I wanted to build it up to something triumphant and joyful," he said. Pop artists Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston recently recorded "When You Believe," which can be found on the film's soundtrack. "What's most impressive about their performance is when thcy sing together, they hav e a very precise hann ny. Of course, th y ha'e good voices, but they have this terrific riff effect because they're very together," Sch wartz commented. Carey and Houston are scheduled to perform their rendition of the song Sunday at 8 p.m. when NBC televises "When You Believe: Music Inspired by "The Prince of Egypt." a special featuring music fom th animated m Boyz l1 Men, Vince Gill, Amy Grant and Bran McKnight are also expected to prform sng froim the soundtrack. Schwartz's work on "Prince of Egypt deviates from his Disney efforts because Dreamworks approach~d the method of storytelling in a more adult fashion. "Disney movis are alwavs viewed as children's movies, but 'Prince of Egypt' is a film for chil- dren and adults. In the typical Disney movie, there are always funny sidekicks and talking animals. There's always a definite good guy and a definite bad guy- a clear villain," Schwartz said. "There are no gargovles here." MSA Continued from Page IA The fee hike would have funded a movement to put a referendum ask- ing about the creation of a student position on the board on the state bal- lot. SRTF Chair Elise Erickson said the task force has regained speed after being reapproved by the assembly for another year of work. "The biggest thing we're waiting on is to find out if we're part of the University," Erickson said. Krislov's office currently is investi- gating the assembly to determine if it falls under the definition of a public bod.y, in which case it cannot hire a lawyer to assist in the campaign for a student regent. "It's basically your interpretation of the campaign finance act. According to our definition, we're not," Erickson said. Regardless of Krislov's decision, the assembly could form a corpora- tion to continue the SRTF work, but members would need to pay the $500 fee and raise money to pay legal advisers. "We would have to go to alumni and ask for money - possibly people with a former interest," Erickson said. The task force would need to raise about S500,000 in non-tax deductible dona- tions, she added. Assembly members also are exam- ining ways to curb binge drinking among students, including forming a student group geared solely toward non-alcoholic social events, Thompson said. "If you can think of any changes on campus that could curb binge drinking, it will happen right now," Thompson said. The only obstacle the student group faces is funding, Thompson said, because the assembly cannot fund social events. Organizers will look to the University administration to fund the group, Thompson said, which he would like to launch in January. Among other assembly recommen- dations to reduce underage drinking on campus include "bribery," such as free weekend movie nights, lowering the price of tickets to sporting events and free dance, scuba or rock climbing lessons for students. MSA Academic Affairs Commission Chair Vikram Sarma has spent the semester researching ways to publish the now-defunct LSA courseguide.o conserve paper, the University stopped print- ing the course guides after the fall 1997 semester. A few weeks ago, assembly mem- bers said the courseguide could be made available to students for a S1-2 charge, but the increased size of the courseguide adversely affected the plan. "With 300 pages, the cheapest it could be made was $8.75," Sarma said at the assembly meeting Tuesday night. Assembly members will now attempt to place several hundred printed courseguides on reserve at campus libraries for students to use and possibly photocopy, Sarma said. Another project designed by the assembly to foster relations between the assembly and various student groups on campus, called the Ambassador Program, will take flight in January. "The idea is to create unity around campus between student groups and MSA," Chopp said. The program, which will be implement- ed next semester, calls for assembly members to visit student group meetings and discuss current cam- pus issues. Chopp said a different student group will be invited each week to the assembly's Tuesday night meeting to address the assembly during the time =allotted for guest speakers. "If we have this e-mail link, we can promote working together," Chopp said. The assembly also is working in conjunction with the University's off- campus housing office on an off-cam- pus student housing guidebook to pro- vide students with information about housing options, rates and landlord information. "Half of it will be on the Web," Thompson said. The Website portion of the guide will include location and price information. Thompson said the written section will provide information to students about questions to ask when signing a lease and tips to remember when look- ing at a dwelling. Thompson said the University Housing Department and the assem- bly would like to push back the time period in which students look for housing. "They don't want it to be the day after you move in, they want it to be the semester after," Thompson said. low I BILL Continued from Page 1A ter learning environment," he said. "At most, it could save some lives." Other last minute work in Lansing includes: Rep. Kirk Profit (D-Ypsilanti) moved his bill concerning the sanctioning of sportsagents that solicit college athletes through both houses. The bill, originally passed in October, provides for a $10,000 fine against any person that interferes with a prospective advantage of a university. In October, Michigan1 Athletic Director Tom Goss said he supported the legis- lation, and Truscott said the governor will examine the bill within the next week to decide whether to sign it. N The Department of Management and Budget, along with the governor, began work on next year's budget proposal. Last month the University Board of Regents requested a S percent increase from the state. Wilbanks said she anticipates a small overall state budget growth, but it is receive. 'RANKINGS Continued from Page 1A for universities that would like to better their environ- ment for black students. "I expect that my alma mater will move into the top 50 next time," LaVeist said. LSA senior Amani Brown, former vice-president of the University's Black Greek Association, said she thought the University's rank was appropriate. "I think it's a good university for the most part, but *here aren't enough opportunities for black students to mix among themselves or with the rest of the University," Brown said. She said the University does a poor job of promot- ing diversity as far as providing activities or programs for minority students, and it doesn't take the time to advertise the few it does offer. Stanford University, the highest-ranking school after the historically black colleges and universities, provides plenty of those activities, said Jan Barker Alexander, Stanford's assistant dean of students and director of the Black Community Services Center. "We don't want people to think that these are places that promote separation," she said. "The myth that exists is that ethnic-focused offices or dorms hold stu- dents hostage, which is far from the truth. We serve as the foundation for our students and encour-ge them to branch out into all areas of our institution," she added. "Everyone has something positive going on at their institution," Alexander said. "It's just finding a way to make all the pieces fit." too early to tell how much the University will Charles Hudson, a junior at Stanford and one of the students slated to appear on the cover of the rankings issue, said the ifaculty at Stanford's black services cen- ter prov ide very strong support. "All the people here are very available for consul- tation," Hudson said. The community's make-up fac- tors in to decisions black students make when choos- ing a school, he said. "Being part of a large black community is very important for some students," Hudson said. "The black universities offer something other schools don't." But he said schools like Stanford and the University of Michigan provide many academic and social opportunities even if the community isn't made up of mostly minorities. "You have to learn to mix the two," he said.