"The philosophers, the lovers of wisdom, have pondered and written a lot about love, even erotic and romantic love, but they have given a cold shoulder to that offshoot of love — tenderness," writes Professor of Philosophy Gordon Marino in his latest piece for the New York Times, published on Valentine's Day. "Indeed, I don’t believe I have ever heard a member of the Socrates guild even mention the lovely word in a remotely philosophical context."

In an opinion piece in the International Herald Tribune, St. Olaf College Professor of Philosophy Gordon Marino honors the 71st birthday of boxer Muhammad Ali by discussing chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the neurological disorder from which Ali has been suffering for decades.

Marino, who is known to be as passionate about 19th century philosophers as he is about boxing, talks about the long-term damage that comes from years of taking blows to the head.

In the piece, Marino argues that researchers and boxing officials must work to understand and address the connection between boxing and CTE, which is similar to Alzheimer's and Parkinson's and which has afflicted scores of boxers and other athletes.

"In the past, the governing bodies of the bruising game have tweaked rules to protect combatants; for example, championship bouts have been shortened from 15 to 12 rounds," Marino writes.  "However, more needs to be done to shield these modern-day gladiators from their craft and courage."

Marino highlights one ongoing study that hopes to discover the earliest warning signs of the disorder and to understand the numerous factors that lead some fighters to suffer from CTE while others remain healthy. He hopes that more timely diagnoses will encourage more boxers to retire from the ring when their neurological health is at risk.

"It is hard to say, but perhaps if Ali could have been shown some of the objective evidence of the havoc going on behind his eyes, he might have been convinced to put his gloves on a nail," Marino writes.

St. Olaf College Associate Professor of Music Christopher Aspaas's newest composition, Tomorrow, I Will Come, was featured on Minnesota Public Radio's Friday Favorites program.

The composition is a setting of the "O Antiphons," a series of antiphons sung each of the seven days leading up to Christmas. Martha Kunau '90 and Sara Kunau '92 commissioned the piece in honor of the 50th wedding anniversary of their parents, Dan '60 and Jan McKeeby Kunau '62.

The Twin Cities chamber choir Magnum Chorum premiered the piece December 15. (Listen to the ensemble perform the piece December 16 at the University of St. Thomas.) Aspaas, a 1995 graduate of St. Olaf, is the music director and conductor of Magnum Chorum.

At St. Olaf, Aspaas conducts the Viking Chorus, a 90-voice ensemble of first-year student men, and also leads the St. Olaf Chapel Choir, a 100-voice ensemble specializing in the performance of oratorio and larger multi-movement works.

Since his sabbatical last spring, Aspaas has premiered 10 new works with the St. Olaf Chapel Choir, the Viking Chorus, Magnum Chorum, the Women's Choir of First Lutheran Church of Sioux Falls, the Lutheran Summer Music Concert Choir, and the Minnesota Men's All-State Chorus.