If high school guidance counselors are right and there is a ''permanent record,'' this is going on Michael Cameron's: In 1998, he was suspended for wearing a Pepsi shirt on Coke Day.

School officials say the shirt was an insult to visiting Coca-Cola executives and ruined a school picture in which students lined up to spell out ''Coke.''

Mr. Cameron, a 19-year-old senior, said it was just a joke.

''In my eyes, I didn't do anything wrong,'' he said today while serving his one-day suspension.

''I know it sounds bad -- 'Child suspended for wearing Pepsi shirt on Coke Day,' '' said Gloria Hamilton, the principal of Greenbrier High School in Evans, about 130 miles east of Atlanta, where Coke is based.