By Angela E. Rodriguez |Staff Writer|

The brothers and sisters of Delta Sigma Chi Coed fraternity (DSC) will host their 7th annual DSC vs. Drunk Driving event “Delivering Sober Choices” Wednesday, Jan. 23 in the Santos Manuel Event Center at 6 p.m.
Last December was National Impaired Driving Month, which coincides with the busiest and most dangerous time of year due to high incidences of alcohol and drug related traffic crashes.
Six years ago, CSUSB’s co-ed fraternity became the first organization to promote drunk driving awareness.
Delta Sigma Chi started to support drunk driving awareness in 2004, due to their unfortunate loss of a sister,Elizabeth Moreno, from a tragic drunk driving accident.
Despite their loss, DSC is optimistic towards this year’s turnout since more participants and co-sponsors are involved with the event.
Different activities will be held throughout the program, including educational activities, Casey Goodwin’s Pledge Story, a toolkit to help spread awareness of the dangers of drunk driving, snacks, music and opportunity drawings to win two tickets to see the Gabriel Iglesias show on Jan. 26.
Also, the club or Greek organization with the most attendees will receive a donation of a $100 to the charity of their choice on behalf of Delta Sigma Chi.
The event will allow participants to gain the knowledge of the numerous dangers of drinking and driving from perspectives of social, victim and convicted aspects.
“It’s more than just a workshop that we are presenting, we are trying to educate as many as we can on the dangers that can affect anybody and can definitely be prevented,” said DSC member Alli Carrasco.
Speakers from some of the nation’s most widely respected non-profit organizations such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), Drinkinganddriving.org and guest speaker Chris Sandy, a former inmate, will share different views and experiences on the topic.
The mission for many of these non-profit organizations is to prevent drunk driving and to support victims of it.
In 2008, Sandy’s story was developed into an award winning documentary “Enduring Regret – Chris Sandy’s Story of Living Life After Causing Death,” which received two Emmy awards in 2009.
“I hope new members will really understand the message and how it’s not only a workshop, this is an issue that is something very important to our organization,” said Carrasco.
Since then, the organization has earned the University’s Excellence in Alcohol Awareness six years in a row. In 1982, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) began recording alcohol related statistics among persons 21 and under.
The number killed in drunk driving crashes decreased 76 percent from the record high of 5,215 in 1982 to a record low of 1,228 in 2010.
Ronald Reagan’s increase of the legal drinking age to 21 in 1984 and enactment of higher levels of penalty are one of the many efforts for drunk driving prevention.
According to centurycouncil.org, between 1991 and 2010 the rate of drunk driving fatalities per 100,000 population has decreased 48 percent nationally and 63 percent among those under 21.
The upcoming event is to educate not only students about drunk driving but anyone who wants to attend and learn the meaning of cautious decision making which impact the lives around them.