Concerns about Oregon State University's response to the shooting of a Corvallis man were raised Wednesday night by students and city residents.

"It's been frustrating because the university wants to pass the buck," said Nella Parks, an OSU senior.

Parks and Katie Allen, members of the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance (FMLA), organized the forum held at the Memorial Union at OSU. Panel members were Rich Donovan of Community Outreach, Officer Nick Hurley of the Corvallis Police Department and Aleita Haas-Holcomb of the Coalition for Sheltering the Homeless. Fifty students and Corvallis citizens attended.

The discussions among community leaders have centered on attitudes about homelessness because the victim, Dennis Sanderson, was homeless.

On Oct. 14, Sanderson was looking for cans in a large garbage container in the alley behind fraternities on Northwest 25th and 26th Streets when he was shot in the leg with a .22-caliber rifle. After an investigation, police arrested Alpha Gamma Rho member Joshua Grimes, 20, on Nov. 9. He was charged with second-degree assault and unlawful use of a firearm in connection with the shooting.

Parks said the university administration may be taking steps to protect the community from further acts of violence, but those steps are not being publicized. She and other students commented that they were dismayed that the administration had not even acknowledged the incident at the time of the shooting.

"If a student had gotten shot there would have been an outcry," Parks said.

Parks and the FMLA members were also concerned that the shooting of Sanderson was not an isolated event. The reports from the police investigation revealed that at least one other person at Alpha Gamma Rho had shot at people in the alley with a pellet gun. And other people who look for cans in the alley say they have been shot at in the past from other fraternities.

According to Parks, one administration official said to her, "Guns are locked up. Problem solved."

Some changes have taken place among OSU fraternities and sororities, officials and fraternity leaders have said in recent interviews with the Gazette-Times.

According to Robert Kerr, OSU's coordinator of Greek Life, the Greek organizations affiliated with OSU have all banned weapons from their houses. According to Kerr, the policy changes came from fraternities' national leadership.

"Guns are forbidden in fraternities," Kerr said.

With one exception - Alpha Gamma Rho, where the shooting actually occurred.

Alpha Gamma Rho has made some changes since the arrest, including tightening its weapons policy, but has not abolished guns altogether. Asked if AGR would follow the example of the other fraternities, Joe Alvernaz, president of AGR's local alumni board, said it was doubtful.

Andrew Hayes, AGR's new president, has said the local chapter checked with the national fraternity to make sure its gun policy complied with insurance requirements.

"The policy states that if guns are locked up with limited access, then we comply," Hayes said.

AGR had a gun safe at the time of the shooting, but according to the police reports, many members weren't using it. The president was supposed to be the only person with a key, but other members made copies. Hayes said that has changed. He has the only key.

"A lot of guys didn't even bring guns back this semester," Hayes said.

Jack Rogers, OSU's director of public safety, says weapons are prohibited on campus by an Oregon Administrative Rule. Off-campus housing, including Greek organizations, is not subject to those rules. He and other administrators have discussed with law enforcement officials possible changes to the rules that concern students living off campus, for everyone's benefit.

"For students and everybody else out there that has the expectation to be safe," he said. "I'm all for gun safety and looking out for our neighbors."

In December, AGR expelled Grimes and another member who was present at the time of the shooting. Grimes has also been charged with third-degree assault and unlawful discharge of a weapon. His next hearing is scheduled for March 1.

Chief Deputy District Attorney John Haroldson reports his office has been engaged in negotiations with Grimes and his attorney. Haroldson said there will either be a plea agreement before March 1, or the case will be sent to the grand jury for an indictment.

AGR has made other changes as well. It has hired a resident adviser. Historically there has been a house mother or father, but for the past year or more there has been no live-in adult supervision.

Hayes started round-table discussions about homelessness and safety among the presidents of other fraternities on the same alley. Friction between fraternity members and people looking for cans in the alley go back years, according to Alvernaz, who graduated in 1998. He remembered incidents when people came into the unlocked fraternity and helped themselves to food and other items lying around.

"Sometimes it takes something horrific to make things happen," said Alvernaz. "It's tragic that this came about because of the shooting."

Jackie Balzer, dean of student life, and the presidents of four of the six fraternities that border on the alley attended the first round-table on Jan. 25. Balzer said the discussion was important and thoughtful. She emphasized that the shooting was in direct contradiction to the values espoused by fraternities, which stress commitments to community and academics.

"Everyone (at the discussion) knew it was wrong," she said of the shooting. "Corvallis has homelessness and people who are struggling. Our world intersects with that."

Hayes, who is a junior, said he knew it was going to be tough taking over leadership of the fraternity after the events of last fall. There was only one way to go - and that was up.

"I decided somebody needed to do it," he said.

Gwyneth Gibby covers police and courts for the Gazette-Times. She can be reached at gwyneth.gibby@lee.net.