Taboo. In Kyoto, Japan, Yukitoki Yakigawa, president of Kyoto University, summed up in a speech to the graduating class: "My final warning to you is ... never touch a drink paid for by others. All the scandals in the world of politics today have their cause in the despicable habit of swallowing free drinks."

Stake-Out. In Philadelphia, Police Captain Clarence Ferguson watched Lightweight Boxer Al Pennell suffer a technical knockout in a semifinal bout, waited for Pennell in the dressing room, arrested him on a robbery charge.

The List. In Thurmont, Md., burglars broke into Gordon P. Gaver's snake farm, made off with a king snake, a grey rat snake, two corn snakes, a five-foot boa constrictor and $30.

Haymaker. In Pinckneyville, Ill., Farmer Leslie Ertl, 59, annoyed by the stubbornness of one of his cows, kicked the beast, wound up in the hospital with a broken leg.

Old School Tie. In Mason, Mich., after Sheriff Willard Barnes complained in the Lansing State Journal that the County Jail was short of blankets and mattresses, he received two new blankets with an unsigned note: "As a minor [alumnus], may I take this opportunity to make a small contribution to my Alma Mater during the current emergency."

Change of Venue. In Raleigh, N.C., arrested for vagrancy, Ohioan John Pa-lenkas explained why he was in town: "All the Southern bums are in Ohio taking the bread out of my mouth, so I [decided to] go on the bum down South."

Command Decision. In Central Valley, Calif., when a fire alarm interrupted the crowning of the queen at the annual Firemen's Ball, Chief Earl Stevens dispatched all his men to quell the blaze, stayed on himself to complete the coronation.

Scents of Guilt. In Kansas City, Mo., the circuit court reversed a drunken-driving conviction which had cost Frank J. Ross a 60-day license suspension and a $100 fine after he explained that he had not been drinking, had merely been eating aromatic Italian cookies.

Grandstand Play. In Darwin, Australia, aborigines staged a rainmaking dance as part of a native-dance festival, had to stop when a downpour drenched the area.

Equality. In New Orleans, Aaron B. Smith, charged with arson, confessed that he helped set fire to five public schools, doing $85,000 damage, because he had only been through the first grade himself and "didn't want to see anybody else get an education."

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