‘Cocaine’ Is Drummed Out of Iowa Band’s Repertoire

--”Cocaine” won’t be running all around the University of Iowa’s football stadium anymore, Hawkeye marching band director Morgan Jones decided. “Cocaine,” a rock song popularized by Eric Clapton, has been a favorite of the Iowa City band for the last two seasons. But Jones banned the tune--along with “In Heaven There Is No Beer”--after several complaints at last week’s Drake-Iowa game. Clapton’s song is “just a dumb, wonderful, catchy little tune,” he said. “If it didn’t have any words, we wouldn’t have this problem.” Jones said he also banned the beer song because he thinks there “will be a great sensitivity about anything the band does. I just don’t want to take any chances.” He said he is disappointed about the complaints because the two songs build audience support. “We play them with great hilarity, at moments of great joy, such as after a beautiful pass,” he said. Last year, the band also belted out “Cocaine” during a big play by an opposing player who had been accused of using the drug.

--”Charlie Two Shoes,” the Chinese farmer befriended by U.S. Marines after World War II, will be allowed to stay in the United States indefinitely, Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III decided. The Immigration and Naturalization Service dropped deportation proceedings against “Charlie,” whose real name is Cui Zhixi. His wife and two children also will be allowed to come from China to join him, Meese said. The attorney general cited humanitarian grounds for his decision, noting that Cui Zhixi, who has remained in this country since 1983, “means a great deal” to the Marines he came to visit. The Marines informally adopted Cui Zhixi 40 years ago, paying for his education and giving him a nickname because they could not pronounce his real name.

--Nick Iuviene, 5, admired the firefighters, garbage collectors and road maintenance crews he saw working near his home in Spencertown, N.Y. So he sent in 38 cents to help pay their salaries. Barbara Iuviene, Nick’s mother, said her son decided he wanted to pay taxes after hearing her and her husband, Joe, talk about school taxes. “He was concerned about a few certain things,” she said. “He had a bunch of money, probably a dollar and change, and wanted to send it all. We told him that for taxes, you only send a small percentage.” Gov. Mario M. Cuomo thanked Nick for the contribution and promised to spend it wisely.