Chris Ballard, a senior writer for Sports Illustrated and author of four books, visited Linfield’s Nicholson Library on Oct. 10 to give a lecture about his book “One Shot At Forever: A Small Town, An Unlikely Coach and a Magical Baseball Season” and discuss his writing career.

To begin the lecture, Ballard discussed the difference between writing a piece for a magazine and writing a book.

“Writing a magazine, you have a one-month love affair,” Ballard said.  “With my book, it took two years of research.”

Ballard’s book, “One Shot at Forever: A Small Town, An Unlikely Coach and a Magical Baseball Season,” tells the story of the 1971 Macon Ironmen Baseball team.

Macon is a small rural town in Illinois. The book depicts the lives of the coach, the players and the community during their run to the state championship game.

The book dives into the lives of the coach, Lynn Swan, the players and the way the season affected and still affects the community today.

“I learned a lot about the sports writing analysis field,” sophomore Joe Stevick said.

Ballard’s book has received great reviews and was called “a beautiful and unforgettable book,” by Buzz Bissinger, author of “Friday Night Lights.”

As the lecture drew on, one could tell that the season had an enormous effect because of placement of the town and the characters that lived there.

“To see the power [of sports] in small towns is something we really forget today,” Ballard said.

Ballard, who has primarily covered baseball and basketball, while working for Sports Illustrated, has spent time writing about big-name athletes like Barry Bonds and Lebron James. Although these are superb athletes, Ballard believes the best stories come from the lesser-known athletes.

“Better stories in sports are at the fringes, where it matters, where people actually care about it,” Ballard said.

Ballard’s book brings this idea to light through a story that only the people of this little farm community remember.

“He gave a great summary about his book and expressed a lot of insightful things about writing non-fictional sports stories,” Stevick said.

Chris Ballard has written for Sports Illustrated for the last 12 years.

Ballard also has work published in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today and Men’s’ Health.

Nicholson Library and the Political Science department sponsored the lecture.

Chris Haddeland/ Culture editor

Joel Ray/ Senior photographer

Chris Ballard, senior writer at Sports Illustrated, discusses narratives, his own writing career and how small, local sports teams affect their communities during a lecture about his book Oct. 10.

Chris Haddeland can be reached at linfieldreviewculture@gmail.com.

It is every athlete’s worst nightmare to hear a pop while competing.

Sophomore Taylor Solomon has come a long way since injuring her ACL and meniscus during a game halfway into her senior season of high school in Kirkland, Wash. After a year and a half of rest, Solomon joins her teammates on the basketball court as the Wildcats begin their 2012-13 season.

On Jan. 11, 2011, during an away game against Mercer Island High School, Solomon went up for a rebound against a Tropical Warrior opponent and the next thing she knew she heard a pop.

“I knew it wasn’t good,” Solomon said. “I got up really fast and tried to shake it off and keep playing. My knee was too unstable to even walk. They brought me to the side, gave me ice and encouraged me to sit out for the rest of the game. I was worried about sitting out that game, but it turns out I had to sit out the rest of the season.”

After receiving multiple x-rays and MRI’s, it was determined that her meniscus and ACL were torn. The news was heartbreaking for Solomon, who had dedicated so much time and effort to basketball.

“The next few months were the toughest times I’ve ever had,” Solomon said. “I was upset all the time and just listened to music. I didn’t really talk to many people either. My surgery was around finals, so I didn’t really study for finals. It was definitely a rough period.”

Luckily, Solomon had encouraging parents, teammates and friends around her to keep her optimistic about bouncing back from her injuries and the future of her basketball career.

One especially big factor during this time was college. After catching word of Solomon’s injury, Whitman College’s head women’s basketball coach dropped her from consideration. Prior to her injury, Whitman was her number one school. However, Linfield’s coach, Robin Potera-Haskins, stuck around.

“Coach was very encouraging,” Solomon said. “She told me I would be back in no time, and I believed her, considering how many injuries she told me she had dealt with. She always made me happier and gave me reassurance that I would be able to play.”

In the fall of 2011 after months of physical therapy, Solomon, along with the returning team and incoming freshman players, participated in a basketball activity class every evening. Rather than competing like the other players as she had planned, Solomon was unable to run up and down the court and was forced to stand on the sidelines and work on her jump-shot.

Eventually, a few weeks into the season and six months after her surgery, her surgeon cleared her to play over the phone. Her knee began to bother her. She knew it was not worth risking another injury, so she decided to sit out and rest for another year.

This was a difficult time for Solomon yet again. She always imagined herself playing basketball her freshman year of college. Coach stayed positive and reminded Solomon that she would recover from this injury.

“I’m really lucky to have Coach,” Solomon said. “Ever since I have been here, she has been excited for me to eventually come back. She has been supportive and present through everything. I am sure a lot of college coaches would have moved on to the next person, and I am appreciative that she hasn’t.”

Solomon’s love for basketball prevailed over the injuries she was faced with.

During the summer after her freshman year, she got a membership at a gym near her house and made a point to go everyday. She shot for at least an hour everyday, lifted weights and trained with a male basketball player from her high school. She started running more and even pushed herself to do suicides on her own.

“Taylor is very dedicated to basketball,” sophomore Kelly Watanabe said. “I applaud her for her hard work and effort, and I know that it wasn’t easy for her to come back off of this injury. She has really pulled through and done a good job at putting her best effort into getting back into the game.”

Watanabe now cheers Solomon on from the bleachers, as she has joined her teammates in the handful of scrimmages the team has competed in.

“Everything happens for a reason,” Solomon said. “I believe that even after this injury, since I have come back, I know that even through hard times you can get back into things if you put your mind to it. It is important to have perseverance because anyone could have given up after an injury like that.”

Solomon now looks forward to what the future and season has in store for her as she begins her first season of play with freshman eligibility.

“I am excited for the season,” she said. “First, because it is my first year playing college basketball, and second, because I’ve been dying to play in a game since my injury. I am excited for this year and this season because we have a lot of girls and are very talented. The ultimate goal is to put a banner in the gym.”

After watching her high school team lose every game except one after becoming injured, Solomon looks forward to hopefully being a part of a winning season.

Sarah Mason

Staff writer

Sarah Mason can be reached at

linfieldreviewsports@gmail.com.

Kate Straube/Photo editor

Sophomore Taylor Solomon plays on the women’s basketball team. Solomon spent last season red-shirting after tearing her ACL and meniscus
during her senior year in high school. She is now starting out the season with her team and has been showing promise on the court during preseason scrimmages. She will soon play her first official game Nov. 17 at Occidental College.

Two Linfield students traveled to Trujillo, Peru, to conduct a local survey about the use of traditional medicine and medicinal plants. Seniors Anna Sours and Susana Fajardo presented their findings to students and professors Nov. 5 in Jonasson Hall.

The two wanted to find out what herbs and plants locals in Peru used and what they used them for. They found that the use of medicinal plants stretches back thousands of years, and the belief in these traditional practices and diseases still exist today.

Fajardo and Sours discovered that the use of medicinal plants was not exclusive among Peruvians. Along with traditional medicines, people frequently used Western medicines and pharmaceuticals to combat illness.

The two worked with Minority Health and Health Disparities International Research Training (MHIRT), which has programs in countries, such as Peru, Mexico, Kenya, Uganda and South Africa, Sours said.

They also worked with students from the State University of New York at Buffalo, who worked in labs doing research on medicinal plants and their properties in the National University of Trujillo and UPAO, another private university in Trujillo.

To conduct the study, Sours and Fajardo went to a health clinic where doctors prescribed medicinal plants to patients. They asked patients waiting in the clinic to participate in their survey. Patients were asked which herbs they used for self-medication and what for.

Sours and Fajardo also asked how the knowledge of medicinal traditions was transferred between generations and if patients preferred medicinal plants or pharmaceuticals for their health needs.

Although some were suspicious and nervous at first, many of the participants were patient and eager to help. Nearly everyone knew about herbs and remedies and gave multiple examples.

Fajardo and Sours wanted to capture emotions and experiences in an authentic way, which was sometimes difficult because all of the interviews were conducted in Spanish. The two had to get used to the different culture and had to be wary of sensitive topics.

“The hardest thing for me was probably having so much freedom with our research design. We got a lot of independence to shape the study in the way we wanted to do it, which was a really exciting opportunity and very applicable to the real world,” Sours said. “We had to narrow down our topics and research areas, which can be really difficult when there are so many directions to take.”

Herbs and medicinal plants are easily accessible and affordable at markets in Peru.

Fajardo and Sours found that identifying plants’ identities can be difficult, and it could present a problem to the person buying the plants. Some participants expressed worry that vendors might try to sell the wrong thing.

“Personally, I am quite open to the use of medicinal plants. So many pharmaceuticals are based on plants and are meant to have some of the same effects, so I think it is a great alternative to use the plants themselves,” Sours said. “It’s more natural and a cheaper option for many people, especially in countries like Peru.”

Kelsey Sutton

Managing editor

Kelsey Sutton can be reached at
linfieldreviewmanaging@gmail.com.

Photo courtesy of Anna Sours

Seniors Anna Sours and Susana Fajardo stand with the entire group of researchers, as well as friends from their hostel and Dr. Douglas Sharon. On Nov. 5, the two discussed their visit to Trujillo, Peru and what they learned about the use of traditional medicine and medicinal plants in Peru.

As students, dressed in suits and polished business attire, filed onto campus, it was apparent that there was something important going on. Indeed, there was; the 82nd Annual Mahaffey Memorial Forensics Tournament’s festivities were beginning to unfold.

At various times during the weekend of Nov. 9-12, students from more than 20 schools competed in the individual speaking events and debate portions of the tournament.

A few of these colleges and universities were Boise State, Pacific, Lewis and Clark, Carroll, Oregon State, Willamette, University of Washington, and Clark and Simon Frasier from Vancouver, Canada.

Sponsors of the event were the Linfield Forensics Team, the Department of Theater and Communication Arts and the Pi Kappa Delta Forensics Honorary.

The goal of the annual tournament is to sharpen students’ ability to effectively communicate and compete in a controlled environment.

“To me, tournaments like this are all about discourse,” senior Chris Forrer said in an email. “Watching and listening to learn new things from your fellow competitors. The topics people choose to create programs of literature about (poetry, prose, drama) are always eye-opening and inspiring to see. It’s an exchange of knowledge and skill, and I think it’s incredibly important.”

Fifteen to 20 minutes prior to the debate events, judges announce the topic that will be covered, giving participants time to prepare. Some of the topics covered during the weekend included North Korean relations, prison, the legalization of marijuana, and cocaine in the U.S. and Latin America.

As the speaking events drew to a close on Saturday evening, Josh Watkins was deemed the top overall speaker in the open division and was given the Mahaffey Award.

“Megan Schwab placed second in Junior Persuasion and sixth in Open Persuasion. Samantha Javier placed first in Junior Persuasion and third in Open Persuasion. Claudia Lester placed fifth in Junior Poetry. Michael Zier and Austin Browning were finalists in Junior British Parliamentary debate. Forrer placed first in Open Program of Oral Interpretation and third in Open Informative Speaking,” Jackson Miller, director of forensics and professor of communication arts, said.

The debate portion ended Sunday with the closing ceremony in Ice Auditorium at 7 p.m. There were delays due to glitches in the tabulation program, so the weekend’s closing ceremony was delayed. Miller and various judges announced the overall winners of the tournament before sending the participants on their journey home.

Sarah Mason

Staff writer

Sarah Mason can be reached at
linfieldreviewnews@gmail.com.

Sarah Mason/Staff writer

Linfield hosted the 82nd Annual Mahaffey Memorial Forensics Tournament, in which students from Linfield and other colleges competed in debates Nov. 9-12.

Linfield College Public Safety and the McMinnville Police Department are investigating a wave of vandalism that occurred the morning of Nov. 4 at five locations around campus.

College Public Safety officers and Linfield staff discovered graffiti between 1:15 and 6 a.m. on the Health, Human Performance and Athletics building, the Hewlett-Packard B apartment building, soccer dugouts, the College Street Apartments and the bike co-op, according to Rebecca Wale, director of college public safety.

Wale said she couldn’t comment on whether campus surveillance cameras caught anything because it is an ongoing investigation.

However, it is believed the vandals are “at least two people who are familiar with our campus,” she added.

Facilities workers cleaned up the graffiti, which was done with black spray paint, soon after.

“Facilities did a great job and cleaned up the graffiti immediately,” Wale said via email. “Significant resources were invested in cleaning up this mess. Vandalism, such as this, takes vital resources away from students and the college community.”

Students were notified of the graffiti Sunday evening by a campus-wide email.

“We have taken action in multiple ways,” Wale said via email. “We are working with the McMinnville Police Department. We have increased College Public Safety foot patrols. And we have asked the community to report any suspicious activity.”

College Public Safety encourages anyone with information to come forward by calling its office at 503-883-7233.

Jessica Prokop

Editor-in-chief

Jessica Prokop can be reached at
linfieldrevieweditor@gmail.com.

Photo courtesy of Erik Johnson

College Public Safety is investigating an outbreak of vandalism that took place on campus Nov. 4. Graffiti was found on the Health, Human Performance and Athletics building, the Hewlett-Packard B apartment building, soccer dugouts, the College Street Apartments and the bike co-op.