The Corvallist: Alpha Gunner Rho

Friday, November 10, 2006

Alpha Gunner Rho

On October 14th, Dennis Sanderson was collecting cans out of a dumpster in an alley off of fraternity row, off of NW Van Buren Avenue. He's homeless, but harmless, making his usual rounds to pick up a little cash to further damage his liver, but not breaking into cars or anything like that. I'm pretty sure he's the guy I found rummaging through my recycling bins a couple months ago. I heard a noise, went outside and asked this gentleman what he was doing. He said he was collecting cans, unless I would rather he stop. He was polite enough and I basically said carry on.

Apparently, a frat boy named Joshua Grimes decided to handle a similar situation differently, and shot Sanderson with a .22 caliber gun. Luckily, he hit Sanderson in the leg and there was no lasting physical damage.

First question: Fraternities allow guns on the premises? Color me surprised. In an era where suicide is the third leading cause of death for people between the ages of 15 and 24, and with all the media coverage of suicide on university campuses, I'm really surprised that guns are hunky dory at any campus-affiliated residence. In fact, there was a suicide at another fraternity a block away less than a month ago. We can discuss second amendment rights for a few hours, if you'd like, but really, universities set all sorts of limits on what students can or can't do while attending school.

Second question: How is it possible that nobody at the fraternity heard a gunshot or was willing to come forth with information about the incident? The police served a search warrant early Thursday morning and found the gun. Gotta love those future leaders of America. Which leads me to my...

Third question: Why does the Gazette-Times' coverage of this same event focus so heavily on reactions of members of other fraternities and people who weren't involved? They're all ready to defend the fraternity and talk about how nice these young men are, how there is no "circle the wagons" approach. Maybe that's true, maybe it's not, but the article seemed a bit lopsided.

21 Comments:

xcellent post. I guess frat people are morons, and this one was an incredibly pathetic example of human stupidity and pointlessness. I hope he's in jail for a long time. Keep up the good postings. That was very incisive and exactly what I was thinking.

By Christopher Farrell, at 6:25 AM
Yes, the article was lopsided and incomplete. For example, if another homeless woman reported to police she'd been shot with a pellet gun in that alley months before, why weren't police asked why they did nothing then, instead of allegedly telling her to stay out of the alley?

I was shot at once in studentville just off of Kings three years ago. I was trapping kittens behind some cottages off Kings, a couple blocks south of Monroe just after the students returned one fall. I was reading in my old car, occasionally glancing over at the trap, when suddenly a shot rang out so close I instinctly ducked. Good thing, too, because a second shot followed very closely. I believe it came from one of the dark but open windows of the apartment complex I was virtually sitting beneath. I left that trap, gunned my engine as much as a old Toyota Corolla would gun, and screeched out of there, hunkered down beneath window level until I got clear of the area. My heart was racing, too. I'd been sitting in my car, all windows open, minding my own business. I never reported it, because I don't trust the cops. Sorry, too many bad experiences with them while I was in the mental health system. I talked to my friend about what happened. She was a local business woman who'd asked me to trap the cats after freinds of hers who live in the area, told her about them. She said her friends had heard those shots and wondered what was going on.

By Anonymous, at 7:35 AM
Maybe the Gazette Times could have looked up how many police calls have been made in the last year to that fraternity. That would have been interesting.

I lived in that area for awhile. Every Thursday night the area would get trashed and without fail, trash cans out at the curb for Friday pickup would be kicked over, like it was a drunk student's duty. The yard of the duplex where I lived would be strewn in tossed beer bottles. Spots of yellow food chunked vomit would dot sidewalks in the area. Often parties would rage all night making sleep impossible. One night there was a riot, drunk frat boys and friends marching down an alley. It was hell to try to exist in that area some nights. Some people suggested the university buy a couple blocks of houses a ways out and let students who come to school mainly to drink and cause problems live there, kind of secluded, so they can fight and make noise and affect only themselves and not so affect the ordinary people trying to live their lives.

And maybe the citizens of the town should circle the wagons around that frat one night, in a silent message to those males living there, to behave like decent human beings to their fellow human beings.

It will be interesting to see if the guy who shot the homeless man gets much of a sentence. I don't know if homeless folks count as real people either in a prosecutors mind.

By Strayer, at 7:49 AM
I just read this yesterday.

Joshua Grimes is a perfect example of fraternal waste. He should turn the gun on himself and save the world the hassle or displeasure of putting up with his kind. If the chain of events in justice work right, Joshua Grimes will be the bum in the alley getting shot by some punk-ass chump, a few short years from now.

His fraternity should be disbanded, as they are guilty by association. What WAS a gun doing in the flophouse?

Of all the frat parties and fratboys I've met in college and on "the outside," I think maybe 7% have been respectable- the rest: unruly, loudmouth retards with too much money and privelege. And some... some end up being the pres-i-DENT of the YOU-nited states.

By crallspace, at 8:34 AM
crallspace said, "If the chain of events in justice work right, Joshua Grimes will be the bum in the alley getting shot by some punk-ass chump, a few short years from now."

How true.

By Anonymous, at 6:12 PM
I am so happy I am able to live away from all that now. I've done my time putting up with parties, vomit, urination, harassing comments, and destruction near where I live, and it was awful. No one should have to live in those conditions unless it's of their own doing.

I am saddened the police aren't doing or can't do more and unfortunately because the tax failed, we aren't going to get any more help in that area.

By Anonymous, at 6:15 PM
The newspaper stories didn't even mention whether the firearm was legally registered. How hard is that? And if they don't know, then say "Police did not say whether the firearm was registered to Grimes." Crappy reporting.

By Anonymous, at 6:28 PM
You must all be the people who no one liked and went through college alone in your dorm room playing dungeons and dragons and sipping on mountain dew. none of you have any idea what you are talking about and should all shut the hell up.

By Anonymous, at 2:55 PM
Whatever. I drank and stayed out late in college and yet I managed to never destroy someone else's property. Imagine that!

By Anonymous, at 2:15 AM
These are all false acusations a fraternity and mostly slander!!

By Anonymous, at 2:42 PM
I question whether the virgins posting on this website really believe that they have enough information to be making assumptions on what really happened. You guys were not involved and have a few vague news clippings and a ten second news report to go off of. I am sick and tired of every one grouping all fraternities and their members as drunken assholes. Josh Grimes did make a mistake and should be brought to justice, however it is wrong to blame the fraternity or the greek system as a whole for one persons actions. People who hate all fraternities for no reason are those who are socially inept and hate the fact that there are people out there who are having the time of there lives, making life long friends, and excelling in academics. One thing that some of you may want to realize is that instead of talking out of your asses about matters that don’t concern you and that really you have no understanding of, you should spend more time playing World of Warcraft or talking to your mom or what ever gives you the security and safety from the outside world.

By Anonymous, at 2:50 PM
Well, my fratty friends, if you think that posting insults about how people are virgins, internet-addicted shut-ins and socially inept makes you look any better than the "drunken asshole" stereotype, you're sadly disillusioned.

That whole "schoolyard bully" thing still appeals to you in college? Talk about sad.

By Corvallist, at 8:03 AM
Hey, Fratboys:
There's no nice way to break this to you, so I'll be blunt. In about five years, those whom you decry as virgins or World of Warcraft geeks will be your bosses. Having established themselves as your superiors in terms of finances, brains and genuine love of family and friends such a short time after you chest-thumped your collegiate superiority, your dismay will intensify as they outdo you in every respect for the rest of your beer-soaked lives.

And now, with the invention of the no-foam keg tap, the one skill you've been honing in college has been superseded by technology!

By Anonymous, at 9:32 AM
This is the silliest thing that I have ever heard! To go out and make an outlandish statement that all fraternity members are guilty by association of the accused is ridiculous. If you do know anything in the regards of gunshots within the city it is not uncommon to have your brain subliminally think of it as a car backfire, etc. For those of you complaining of people and their drunken stupors, THIS IS A COLLEGE TOWN! Sure you have never destroyed other people's property, but there are 16,000 students on this campus and only a minute portion of them are Greek males, so obviously you have problems with students in general. AND kitten trapper, I am not saying that what happened to you was lawful and right, but were you trespassing on private property to trap these elusive creatures?

In my opinion, yes, I do believe that Joshua Grimes should be served justice and punished according to what a judge and jury have to say.

Crallspace get out from under your house and realize that it is wrong to include members of the fraternity and the rest of the Greek system as his accomplice, simply based off of one person's actions whom in this case acted independently.

You all complain of how media articles are all lopsided and sway one way to another, looks to me that you all are doing the same. So next time you consider opening your mouth on a topic, I would advise knowing all the parameters of the story, instead of being an ignorant person and base your opinions solely off of a small number of people or Greek houses.

I look forward to hearing an intelligent arguement from one of you justifying your opinions.

By Anonymous, at 10:55 AM
I see we have some people from both sides in this insulting situation. Most of the people who know anything about life at all, would understand that all this bitching and complaining from both sides isnt going to solve anybody's situation.
So, basically there are TWO people who have anything to really do with this whole damn thing. One would be the homeless man; whom is probably eating better than he has for the past part of his life. The Second person would be mister Grimes; nobody can be sure what exacly was going through his head at the time of the crime. And nobody else can be held accountble for his actions. In the end if a house of people would like to have guns, they should be aloud to. A gun is no more a weapon of death than a nife,a baseball bat, a rope, a pencil, a pipe wrench, or a vehicle. All of these things are TOOLS when used correctly. Yet used incorrectly ALL items mentioned above could be weapons of death, and some more deadly than others.

So I leave you people with this, if you are the man that got shot, then jsutice will be and has been served; if you are the shooter, then i'm sure you understand the situation that u are in and that your mistake will lead you to severe cosequences; and if your anybody else then you really have nothing to talk about that would be your business.

P.S. Not all fraternity mambers are rich, spoiled,degenerite assholes, I am proud to say that most of the fraternity members i know are not "fratboys" and that alot of them are here because of loans and scholarships and hard earned money, for the simple fact that their parents could not buy them brand new cars(these AGR guys would be a perect example of this).And if there are any drunk raging parties in any of the houses along Greek Row,as mentioned by our friend STRAYER, the men living in these houses would know that they have to clean up and fix everything that is broken for the simple fact that they still have to LIVE in these houses. So anybody thinking that all of the fraternity guys are a bunch of "mama's boys that have everything handed to them on a silver platter, think again. Look at it from the other side and might see something new. If u can find a person that has been given everything in life and can still survive without anybody there for them, then i would really like to meet this person. So dont disgrace the fraternities with an individual's actions.

By Anonymous, at 12:41 PM
One member of Alpha Gamma Rho made a mistake, and he will have to pay for that mistake. Josh Grimes will be prosecuted and punished for his actions. It was by no fault of anyone else that he shot that bum. It is easy for us to look back and say what should or shouldn’t have happened, but the fact is we don’t know what happened. It isn’t fair for us to speculate about anything involving Josh Grimes and what he did. Josh Grimes has been arrested and is awaiting trial...justice has and will continue to be served.

By Anonymous, at 1:48 AM
I think that you all need to sit and think about this. I can say with almost 100% certince that not one of you were there or know what really happened, also the media gives us the news that they feel we should hear, not the most reliable sours. With that been said you all don't have a shred of anything to go off of and also don't have any idea of what you are talking about so shut the F up. And for you people out there stop talking about colleges and frats as if they are all the same, don't forget that we live in the U.S.A. a place were people cane be different. Josh made a mistake a big one and he knows it. no body including josh and his family need you know nothing to keep running your jaws about and event that your not involved in or know much about. Josh will get his time to come clean and let the chips fall. I hope that the judge and the jury are able to act in a true manner and that all you back lasing will not have any affect on the trial and the only the true fact are been used as evidence. Its not fair for any of you to speculate about anything involving Josh Grimes and what he did or didn't do.

By Anonymous, at 1:17 AM
In another fine example of frat-supporter intelligence, the last comment was posted four separate times before the individual either realized that comments need to go through moderation, or simply gave up. A new record, ladies and gentlemen! Most people get it the second time.

By Corvallist, at 5:45 AM
Wow,

That last guy really needs to be here at OSU. Maybe we can get him enrolled in some English classes to improve his spelling? He says things like he hopes the judge is fair and all that. Yeah buddy, me too. Josh should have been charged with attempted murder. If the minority group Josh decided to target with his rifle happened to be one other than the homeless population, I'll bet more would have been done. Yeah "brother", we don't know the facts, you are right. It was between Josh and Sanderson, you are right... Sanderson must have recycled the Milwaukee’s Best cans that Josh consumed that afternoon. This was a direct insult to Josh as Josh really liked to feel like he was accomplishing something by adding to the county landfill, and Sanderson took this away from him by "robbing" AGR's dumpster. Yep, it is between those two guys, and Josh obviously won... he was the only one with the gun, but that is beside the point... as the fact is that he SNIPED this man from the window.
Josh is a coward and he deserves to go to jail. He deserves to be expelled (I hope he has) and his family deserves the shame they must feel for raising such a dumb ass. I imagine they wish he had been switched in the nursery when he was born. Or that they had just used birth control. But, now the damage has been done and Josh will pay the price. And I do believe he is a scapegoat of sorts, or maybe he is just the only one at AGR who has a good aim. The GT article on all of this was so stupid. Josh's friend claimed he didn't know the gun was so powerful, he thought it was like BB gun... the paper goes on to explain that many of AGR members come from rural backgrounds, which would explain the proliferation of weaponry at the AGR house. Ok, I accept that people hunt and trap shoot. I grew up in a rural setting myself, but it is asinine for someone who grew up around guns to confuse a round little BB and a .22 rifle cartridge. I will give Josh and the buddy who ran to the window and shouted "there's a hobo out there" a little credit because I believe that they aren't that stupid; they are just full of shit. I also believe that many people knew what that sound was at 5:30 on a Saturday afternoon, and others new the smell of gun powder that hung in the room from which Josh proved his worthlessness (perhaps many times before, and in many different ways). I imagine many of the AGR members were raised to respect the power of fire arms similar to that which was imparted on me growing up. Josh obviously never learned this and maybe his family can blame themselves for this. He was obviously the last person in the world who should possess a gun.
I used to walk down the alley behind AGR at least once a day prior to this display of complete idiocy. I have stopped doing that now. Across Harrison are several small houses and some apartment buildings. A .22 round can travel around 2 miles. Josh could have killed someone. He could have killed a child, a fellow student, or the "dirty bum" he took aim at. The real shame in this story is that we as citizens of Corvallis haven't demanded more in the form of action from the University or the National chapter of AGR. I'd be happy to start or sign any petitions that would actually impose a penalty on AGR for this. While I do not hate fraternities as a whole, I do think Josh's actions and the actions of the brother's at AGR in covering this up and condoning this disgusting display of stupidity, merit stiff consequences. I propose that the charter be removed from this fraternity and the doors be closed to AGR on OSU’s campus forever. That is fair. A little less severe would be for AGR to be forced to feed the homeless population three meals a day, in their common dining areas at the same time they are eating their meals, for at least a year. Either one of these "solutions" would make me happy. Since it is evident that there isn't a respect for the power of guns at AGR, it should be mandated that guns are completely banned from all fraternities, so that nothing remotely close to this happens again. I love Corvallis, and it is a disgrace for the national media to pick up a story like this that makes us look as simple minded as Josh evidently is. I urge all of you who have posted here in disgust to attend the trial of Joshua Grimes and to show your support of Dennis Sanderson. Corvallis residents are good at uniting over important issues and this is certainly one of those. We should give Josh a fitting send off from Corvallis; a kick in the ass and the well understood message of "you aren't welcome here".

By Anonymous, at 2:06 PM
Hey look at this:

Josh Grimes is still listed on the interfraternity council website for OSU!!!

http://www.oregonstateifc.com/page.php?page_id=5666&parent_id=&chapter_tour_id=293

By Anonymous, at 2:29 PM
This shooting incident is nothing of the type that would be new to Alpha Gamma Rho, nationally, nor at OSU. Here are a few links from some searches:
http://www.corvallist.com/2006/11/alpha-gunner-rho.html#links
http://www.tolerance.org/news/article_hate.jsp?id=620
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=Alpha+Gamma+Rho+shooting
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070130/ap_on_re_us/florida_a_m_hazing
http://cals.arizona.edu/agr/
http://www.frmtltd.org/wfdata/files/Fall_FRMT_2005_E-MAIL.pdf
http://www.everydayshouldbesaturday.com/?p=1768
http://alumni.oregonstate.edu/stater/issues/stater0009/feature2.html
http://www.tolerance.org/news/article_tol.jsp?id=342
http://fratboynews.blogspot.com/2007_01_01_archive.html
http://fratboynews.blogspot.com/search/label/Alpha%20Gamma%20Rho
http://www.local6.com/education/7151219/detail.html
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070201/UPDATE/70201004
Cached Article:
http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:86munm06j4MJ:www.commonsense.wnymedia.net/index.php%3Foption%3Dcom_content%26task%3Dview%26id%3D260%26Itemid%3D43+Alpha+Gamma+Rho+Hazing&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=5
You can also do your own search on this subject, and let us know what you come up with!

Here’s another true story:
I joined a fraternity when I was in college, and have first-hand greek-system experience at Oregon State. So those of you that are childishly pro-greek, I know what I’m talking about and I won’t shut the hell up. Those of you that are anti-greek, you can’t know the experience unless you’ve lived it. So, this is what I know, both first-hand, and second-hand information, and am not making this up for bias on either side. Just the facts, and my right to free speech to express the facts. You have just as much of a right to dispute the facts as I have a right to express them. A friend (“Dave”) and I both went through what is called “Rush-Week” (the week immediately preceding the first day of classes) at OSU, and Dave “R & R’d” at Alpha Gamma Rho. R&R=Resident Rushee. You stay at a particular fraternity for the week so that you can get to know them and vice versa. It opened my eyes quite a bit, so I decided to pursue other fraternities and not AGR. I ended up NOT joining (or “pledging”) AGR because they just weren’t my type, even though I am from a rural area. These guys were pretty much uncouth hicks without, what seemed at the time, any moral compass (or intellectual compass for that matter!), I think simply because most AGR’s had left home and were free from rural patriarchal controls often associated with rural ranching and farming. The kind of guys that are either real cowboys, wanna-be’s, or just don’t freakin’ get it when it comes to contemporary clothing styles, other than Wranglers, cowboy boots, and cowboy shirts, the kind with the shimmering snail-trails all over them. Sort of Glen Campbell type clothes. I joined another fraternity completely unlike AGR for the simple reason I wouldn’t have fit in. It’s not bad, it’s not good, it’s just fact. Looking back to the past, I made the right decision. Looking at the present situation, I made the right decision. However, Dave went ahead and pledged AGR. He must’ve been under some pressure because he had a relative or something that previously pledged AGR. Being from rural areas, we were both quite culture shocked about the whole university experience to begin with, even though we both were connected to rural agriculture some way, which AGR claims is their signature to the land-grant university greek system and they also claim the feature of a “social-professional fraternity”, labels them as “unique & different” from other fraternities. I’ll say! We frequently met as friends and discussed freshman experiences. I’d go over to AGR parties, and he’d come over to my parties. I began to notice things changing during our freshman year, however, when Dave told me his decision to literally de-pledge AGR. Dis-a-vow his affiliation with the organization. I actually tried to talk him out of it, reminding him of how great fraternity experiences can be, as mine was thus far. Unfortunately he described the details of what we might now look back at as hazing.
I’m sure this is just tradition, but some frats have a thing during dinner called “pigging”. It’s where you literally get fined a small monetary amount for violating an eating etiquette rule (talking with food in mouth, feet not flat on floor, eyes looking away while drinking from glass, etc.). Minor dinner table etiquette infractions. So what, it’s all in good fun, and you actually learn something in the long-run about eating manners. I’d tried to tell Dave this. However, Dave’s take on pigging was “It’s so stupid, you can’t even eat dinner without upperclassmen spying on you waiting for you to do something wrong so they can pig you, so I’m not even getting my money’s worth on room and board because people aren’t letting me eat in peace”, “And if you don’t have money with you to pay the pig, they do other things to you…” (can’t remember what Dave told me they did, but it was stupid and bordered hazing). Dave also claimed that during rush-week “They said, oh yeah, 3 meals a day, 7 days a week, BUT, after I pledged, I found out you are only allowed milk, OJ, and cereal during breakfast, and fend for yourself on weekends. Uh, this is not what I’m paying for”, said Dave. During the first week after rush he said one AGR member (there is a difference between pledges and members) asked once during dinner “when are the plebes up for pigging”. (Fraternity pledges are sometimes referred to as “pukes”,”maggots”,”plebes”,”rooks”, or any other derogatory name denoting a new-bie to the organization. It didn’t offend me, being called a pledge or a plebe, but I guess it offended Dave).
Dave complained of enormous amounts of time dedicated to having to do house cleaning chores, early in the morning, in the evenings, middle of the day, particularly having to clean up after drunken parties when people puked in and around the place. It was SOP for freshman pledges to do most house duties at many fraternities, including AGR. The paddles that lined the walls of AGR frightened all us freshman in those days. What the hell do these guys do with these paddles? Beat each other? A question that remains unanswered for me. Dave complained of rampant drinking, kegs frequently on tap, and if not sponsored by the house, individuals 21 and over were more than happy to purchase for aspiring under-age residents. How about the upperclassman who yelled at Dave to “answer the god-damn phone” when it rang more than twice, and Dave didn’t sprint over to the phone immediately, because he was talking to me in the foyer. Freshman were required to answer the phone within a certain number of rings. Racial slurs were not uncommon, according to not only Dave, but a guy we mutually knew at ATO next door, referred to an African-American member of Sigma Chi simply as “Sig Nigg”. Repulsive.
Another OSU AGR tradition Dave told me about included members taking the opportunity to write their bond number on your bare naked ass if you didn’t participate collectively in some of the stupid pledge ritual, like showers. I still don’t know what that was all about. “Showers”? Must be an AGR secret or something.
Other things Dave complained about were the ATO’s next door were up at all ungodly hours of the day and night making noise, partying, pissing outdoors while drunk slinging their genitals around, along with Theta’s, Fiji’s, Squeeks, and Sigma Chi’s “making a ruckus all the time”. The final straw, Dave tells me, is while walking home from campus one weekend afternoon, he was hit with a water-balloon during a huge water-balloon fight in that particular neighborhood of greek-row, and listening to the roar of cheers and laughing that someone hit a bullseye on him. Only to find out later that it was actually a member of his own house, AGR, that smacked him square with the projectile. Hazing? Fun? Perhaps, but the insult was enough to make Dave call it quits. Well, Dave and I came to college to get a degree, not to screw off like many do in college. I’m not saying ALL greeks goof off in college, but it appears many of them do, based on stuff printed in the popular press, and based on some personal experiences.
Dave complained that mandatory pledge activities were basically a drain on his time as a student and for that matter, a human being, and senseless b.s. hindered him from getting the grades he needed to stay in school, let alone get an advanced degree. Definitely not an environment conducive to scholarly endeavors. We concluded these guys (nor are many greeks) interested in scholastics. So he moved out of AGR before “hell week” and never looked back. We both concluded AGR’s were a bunch of morons to begin with, even though I look back at my fraternity experience w/ fondness. Don’t get me wrong, there were morons in my house, as well as other fraternities. Dave’s experience at OSU Alpha Gamma Rho was dismal at best. What could now be technically classified as hazing practices, was illegal, even though most of it was hush-hush, and part of the fraternity experience. Everyone had to do their time as a pledge. We also concluded many (not all) members were less-than-stellar farm-ranch boys majoring in “general ag” with the intent of returning to the rural setting from whence they came. Social organization? By all means. Professional fraternity? Far from it. There also once was an incident where an AGR was charged with rape. Don’t know the details, but it happened sometime in the mid-1980’s. But then again, most college-age men could fall into that category, either knowlingly or not. Think about your sexually-aggressive behavior BEFORE you act on it. There’s some reprieve, compared to firing off a bullet, but not much. But don’t kid yourself, some of these guys have risen out of the bullshit of the greek system to become productive members of society. I’m sure there’s plenty of examples to name. But they don’t need to be linked to present-day Alpha Gamma Rho, or to Mr. Grimes, so I won’t go there.
Now come the legalities of all this.
Gun possession and the shooting of a transient in that alley should actually come as no surprise. Read this article from rural Enterprise, Oregon: http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070201/UPDATE/70201004 Shooting with pellet guns is one thing. Shooting at scavenging wildlife is another, especially the fact raccoons and feral cats may have rabies or other diseases going in and out of dumpsters. But what the f was Grimes thinking? A .22? He might as well have used a .223 or 12-gauge because once you fire off a round, you can’t call it back. You can’t regret it, you can’t change it, you can’t do a damn thing about it. That round is going to go where you aimed it. Sanderson is a transient yes. But he’s also a freaking human being. I agree that when you get a bunch of guys together from rural backgrounds, living in the same facility, semi-independent from campus, they are going to own and possess firearms, simply for the use of sporting activities such as hunting, skeet-shooting, and the like. But shooting at people for fun?? Seems like some members of AGR didn’t learn the basics from daddy back home on the range, and that is “never draw a gun you don’t intend to use, and never point it, unless you plan on pulling the trigger”. Ted Nugent even emphasizes not to mix guns with alcohol. I can only imagine the shame/guilt Grimes must be enduring right now, but much less the pain Sanderson is enduring. Unfortunately for Alpha Gamma Rho-Oregon State’s chapter- while one individual is facing criminal charges, the fraternity as a whole may be facing civil lawsuits. Be careful what you wish for when you wish a whole bunch of guys to be dismissed from membership in the fraternity. There may be little assets available to compensate the injured if membership in that house is depleted and its alumni distance themselves. The national organization of the fraternity may also be held culpable, both criminally, civilly, and monetarily, and rightfully so. In addition to its gun-ownership restrictions and anti-hazing policies AGR claims to have, they need to revisit their insurance claim manual: http://www.chaptertools.com/site_files/file_1166473947.pdf . Folks, this is only the beginning phase of defense of an illegal, immoral, senseless act. Sanderson may get more out of this in one lump sum than what you and I may earn over a life-time. Think about it. I’m not saying these things to denigrate AGR or fraternities in general. I’m just reviewing what I see as facts in the entire scenario as it pertains to fraternity ethics, liability, and human stupidity. What all parties involved at this juncture need will be good attorneys. Don’t tell me this was just between 2 individuals having a spat over dumpster beer cans. This single action involves whole organizations, families, businesses, farms, and public agencies, and will for quite some time to come. If Grimes is from a farm or ranch, Sanderson might be moving in. Be careful where you point those guns, boys!!! Or you might have to roomates other than your fellow gun-owners !

By Anonymous, at 8:05 AM

The Corvallist

Friday, November 10, 2006

Alpha Gunner Rho

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