According to a recent presentation on campus, 30 percent of all college freshmen deaths in 2007 were related to alcohol, with 1,700 college students dead as a result of alcohol-related incidents.

Alcoholism is a problem most people are aware of by the time they enter college; however, there are many methods of addressing and dealing with the issues. Often, an alcohol program is nothing more than someone standing on a stage giving the audience the statistics of how many people die each year while showing gruesome pictures.

On Monday Oct. 27, Brent Scarpo took to the sidelines and let students learn in a less traditional manner. The purpose of his program, Last Call, is “to give students a chance to talk about their life and the effects alcohol has on it, because that’s when you can get to the issue,” Scarpo said.

Last Call is an audience-driven program that directly involves students, drawing them into open dialogue to discuss alcohol. The name comes from making that “Last Call” to family and friends when alcohol “serves its final round on a student’s life,” Scarpo said.

This style of education is very unique. “(This program) gives us the ability to do what parents and administrators are not doing, which is talk about your life,” Scarpo said in reference to the difference between Last Call and the ordinary, conventional method of alcohol education to young adults.

Scarpo has headed the program for about one year, and was just given the National Orientation Directors Association award. According to its Web site, NODA’s mission is, “to provide education, leadership and professional development in the fields of college student orientation, transition and retention.”

Putting together Last Call was a long process for Scarpo. In building the program, he took time to speak to more than 100 student leaders in a year of research. “I don’t want to do anything that won’t work. I want the students to be engaged,” Scarpo said.

Scarpo rated San Diego State’s October presentation as one of the top three Last Call presentations he has given. The success at SDSU was possible, he said, “because of student involvement and feedback.”

Scarpo has extensive experience in his field. Some might call him a motivational speaker; however, he would describe himself as a transformational speaker. “I’m really not motivating people, it’s about creating a transformational process,” he said.

Working in the field for almost 25 years, Scarpo has spent the last 10 on college universities in 17 countries and all 50 of the United States. He has a bachelor’s degree in English literature and communications, with a minor in theatre.

More information on Scarpo and his programs can be found on his Web site at http://www.brentscarpo.com/speaking_programs.htm. Getting involved, Scarpo said, will have an effect on those who are interested.

“The concept is that in some shape or form you will be transformed,” Scarpo said.