A few weeks ago, we heralded the fact that Oregon State University has not seen a death due to binge drinking in more than two years.

We'd like to give all the credit to the good programs at OSU - including one from the campus Oregon State Police Web site - that provide plain talk on drinking to incoming students. The most important thing is to know that drinking too much alcohol too fast will kill you.

A young woman may have come close to finding that out. The 20-year-old was at a party on Northwest 13th Street on Sept. 26, when she passed out cold. Fortunately someone was clear-headed enough to take her to the hospital to be checked out.

We don't know what happened to the woman, but that's pretty much the textbook scenario for alcohol poisoning deaths brought on by binge drinking.

All of these incidents came from our "Crime Watch" report of Sept. 30. It was unusual for the sheer number of back-to-back alcohol offenses that came as an unwelcome prelude to the start of fall term at OSU. Between Wednesday, Sept. 24 and Sunday, Sept. 28, local law enforcement officials responded to 11 incidents of criminal behavior in which alcohol was directly involved. To recap:

• 12:20 a.m., Wednesday, police cited five underage students on the third floor of Poling Hall for being minors in possession of alcohol - MIP for short - after they were being loud enough to prompt a call to police.

• 3:03 a.m., Thursday, police responded to the report of a car with its door open at Northwest 30th Street and Tyler Avenue. A 20-year-old man was passed out. A large amount of vomit was on the ground and on the car door. Result: citation for MIP, public discharge of human waste and possible suspension of his driving privileges for a year.

• 1:42 a.m., Friday, a patrol officer reports seeing a 32-year-old Lebanon man at 14th Street and Polk Avenue narrowly avoid running over a pedestrian. Police said his blood alcohol level was .17 - more than twice Oregon's .08 legal limit for drunkenness.

• 3:11 a.m. that night - just hours after the 27-21victory by the OSU Beavers over first-ranked USC, a 23-year-old Corvallis woman was arrested on Second Street near Polk Avenue after an officer reportedly saw her driving 55 mph in a 25-mph zone. She was arrested for driving under the influence, refusing a breath test and speeding.

• 10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27, a state trooper on a bicycle cites a 21-year-old for furnishing alcohol to minors after seeing him walk out of a package store near OSU and give a case of beer to an 18-year-old and his friends. The 18-year-old was cited for MIP.

• 12:57 a.m. Sunday, a 19-year-old Medford woman was cited for running a stop sign and DUII for registering a .14 for blood alcohol level. No word on whether MIP would be added to those charges.

• 3:22 a.m. Sunday, police stop a 21-year-old driver for weaving while driving near 15th Street and Philomath Boulevard. She blows a .13. She calls her 22-year-old fiancee to pick her up. Police arrest him after he registered a .16 blood alcohol level.

We cannot recall a Crime Watch blotter as full of arrests on drunk charges in one week as this one. It concerns us. If anyone has a workable plan to reach these folks, please share it. Sounds like this could be a year when we need some new ideas.