Two Lambda Chi members drown

Tuesday, 5/20/97 Two Lambda Chi members drown DEATHS: Pearce,
Sanders’ deaths end weekender in tragedy

By Marie Blanchard Daily Bruin Senior Staff Two UCLA students
drowned Saturday, after one jumped off a cliff and didn’t resurface
and another student dove to rescue him and disappeared as well.
Both Brian Thomas Pearce, 22, and Brian Toshio Sanders, 19, were on
a Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity weekender in Lake Mead, Nevada with
approximately 50 other students. Several members of the group,
including Pearce and Sanders, had spent the afternoon diving off a
20-foot cliff into the water below. According to witnesses, shortly
after 7 p.m. Pearce dove off the cliff while attempting to do a
backflip into the water. "It appears as though (Pearce) was trying
to do a flip and he overcompensated," said Victor Caldwell,
president of the UCLA Lambda Chi Alpha House Corporation. "He
rolled over a little (in the air) and his head and chest hit the
water first," Caldwell continued. According to other students who
were also cliff-diving, Pearce resurfaced after the dive and then
sank back into the water. After Pearce disappeared, witnesses dove
into the water to find him, according to Lambda Chi president
Steven Lacrosse, who was present at the accident. After searching
the water for several minutes, Sanders, a Lambda Chi pledge, put on
a swim mask and volunteered to dive deeper into the water. "It was
too deep," said Lacrosse. "Sanders was a better diver and a great
swimmer. He went further than all of us." Sanders disappeared for
several minutes and came back feeling sick, according to witnesses.
"He went down much further than he should have," said Caldwell,
speculating that Sanders perhaps got the bends after diving
approximately 20 feet before coming up for air. After resurfacing,
Sanders went back down immediately to keep looking for Pearce.
Minutes later, he had disappeared as well. "He made the ultimate
sacrifice to save his (fraternity) brother’s life," Caldwell said.
When Pearce disappeared, a few of the cliff-divers began to swim to
a nearby boat to call for help. National Park Service rangers were
called to the scene at 7:39 p.m., but it wasn’t until two hours
later that divers were able to recover both bodies, approximately
29 feet below the water, according to Dave Hoover of the National
Park Service. "Everyone is going through a frenzy. We are extremely
upset," Caldwell said. Friends were stunned Monday by the news of
the two men’s deaths. "They are shocked and distraught. I’ve never
seen them like this," said Caldwell, referring to members at a
late-night meeting Lambda Chi held to discuss the tragedy. "You
could have heard a pin drop in the room (during the meeting),"
Caldwell continued. Pearce, a fourth-year business-economics
student, had lived in the Lambda Chi house for the past several
years. He was also the fraternity "big brother" of Sanders. "Both
of them loved the (fraternity) house," said Lacrosse. "They would
have done anything for any of the (Lambda Chi) guys." Friends of
Pearce were stunned by the news. "He’s not the kind of guy you want
to make an example of," said a close friend of Pearce Sunday night.
"Brian (Pearce) was really good-hearted. This is such an
unfortunate tragedy." Sanders was a resident of Dykstra Hall.
Originally from San Carlos, Calif., he was pledging Lambda Chi at
the time of the accident. According to residents of Dykstra, upon
hearing of the accident, his roommate and friends left the dorm to
spend the week away from campus. "He was well-liked by the floor,"
said Glenn Inanaga, Sander’s residential assistant in the dorm.
"The entire community is saddened by the loss." Although a friend
of the victims said that Pearce was "super-intoxicated" while
cliff-diving, Caldwell, speaking on behalf of the fraternity, was
quick to warn against jumping to any conclusions. "This (alcohol
use) has not been confirmed and that’s why we are waiting on the
autopsy results," he said, arguing that he has spoken at length
with students who were at Lake Mead and that they had been "very,
very honest with him." Autopsy reports determined that the cause of
death was asphyxia from drowning. Both deaths were ruled
accidental. However, toxicology reports, which can determine the
level of alcohol in the blood, will not be available for another
two weeks. Members of Lambda Chi have been holding regular meetings
to provide counseling for friends of the victims. A representative
of the national chapter of the house has also flown out to help
house members cope with the loss of the fraternity brothers. "This
is a horrible tragedy," said Inter-Fraternity Council president
Brett Bouttier. "We extend our deepest sympathies to the families
of the victims and the brothers of Lambda Chi Alpha." Brian Thomas
Pearce was a fourth-year business economics student from Indian
Wells, Calif. Brian Toshio Sanders, a third-year computer science
engineering student, was from San Carlos, Calif.