What was going on when I was born?

Videotape recording of copyrighted television programs, even if done at home only for private use, is an infringement of the rights of those who own the programs, a Federal appellate court in San Francisco ruled yesterday. As a result, the court indicated, the millions of consumers who use videotape machines to record programs off their living room television screens could be sued for damages, along with the companies that manufacture or distribute such devices, the stores that sell them and the advertising agencies that encourage their purchase. The appeals court ruling, if not reversed, could undermine what has been one of the most rapidly expanding segments of consumer electronics. An estimated 4 percent of American homes with color television sets now have videotape recorders.

In Jerusalem, prayer can be an incendiary act A2 Solidarity reacts mildly to Polish party's tougher line A3 Brezhnev voices satisfaction over new Polish party leader A3 Iran chooses a U.S.-trained doctor to be the next Prime Minister A3 U.S. plans to send aid teams to scout the third world A4 Around the World A5 Excerpts from President Rea- gan's remarks at Yorktown A6 Sudan says U.S. military aid package is insufficient A8 Government/Politics Staff director resigns from Senate intelligence panel A15 Case of accomplice in murder case faces review A18 Supreme Court Roundup A19 Environmentalists present petitions on Watt ouster A20 St. Louis seeks to weather onslaught of U.S. cutbacks A22 Baker denies ''final'' G.O.P. accord on new budget cuts A23 Trial on bribery charges in L.I. sewer project nears end B2 Washington Talk Briefing A16 A hard-driving investigator's role in Congress A16 Curator ponders connection between politics and art A16 Update A16 Energy New York Power Authority seeks hydroelectric-credit cut B14 PARKING REGULATIONS Because of the Jewish holidays of Shemini Atzereth and Simhath Torah, alternate-side parking is suspended in New York City today and tomorrow. All other rules remain in effect. ScienceTimes Earth's ozone layer being studied by satellite C1 Education: accessiblility of U.S. colleges C1 Virus that fights blight means hope for the chestnut tree C1 Science Watch C2 Satellite aided in first shuttle flight C3 Doctor's world: drinking and driving don't mix C4 Science Q&A C4 About education: a question of leadership C6 General Even the British are cheery at Yorktown celebration A7 Around the Nation A15 Hinckley's paper seized by guards at Butner institution A19 Increased police protection announced for cabdrivers B3 Arts/Entertainment O'Neill birthday party at Circle in the Square C9 Disney is rereleasing a remade ''Watcher in the Woods'' C9 Two books about the Greeks are reviewed C11 ''Mass Appeal'' and ''Einstein'' complete cast changes C12 ''Grace'' by Jane Stanton Hitchcock at American Place C12 ''Becoming a Man,'' about youths growing up, on CBS-TV C13 Style Notes on Fashion C7 Paris: Clothes for real people C7 Adopting through the classifieds C7 Obituaries Richard J. Roth, spokesman for State Senate Republicans D31 Dr. A. B. Reese, specialist in children's eye diseases D31 Sports Jackson's Series role uncertain A25 Dusty Rhodes recalls glory days A25 Mets due to name Bamberger manager today A25 Red Smith on the last roar in Montreal A27 Judge refuses to reopen Raider betting case A29 Features/Notes Man in the News: Andreas Papandreou, Greek victor A11 Sports People A28 Notes on People C8 News Analysis Clyde Haberman on Koch's speech to Democratic leaders B1 Jonathan Fuerbringer examines economic policy D27 Editorials/Letters/Op-Ed Editorials A30 Very well, tax sin some more Who lost what in Greece Classic The art of kicking the poor Letters A30 Sydney H. Schanberg: wheat, chaff and PCB's A31 Tom Wicker: an economic catch- 22 A31 Michael Novak: words aren't rights A31 Rene Dubos: creating farmland through science A31

The recession is likely to push the jobless rate over 8 percent this winter, an Administration economist said. A recovery beginning in the first quarter of 1982 is hoped for. (Page A1.) President Reagan's surprise acknowledgement of a ''slight recession'' isn't likely to produce new policy initiatives, economists agree. (Page D27.) Videotape recording of TV shows, even for private use, can infringe copyrights, a Federal court ruled. It indicated damages could be sought from consumers who use videotape machines, from the companies that make or distribute them, from the stores that sell them and from the ad agencies that promote them. (A1.)

President Hosni Mubarak said today that a ''limited net'' of ''fanatic'' plotters were involved in the assassination of President Anwar el-Sadat 13 days ago and that a recent wave of arrests was rooting them out. Mr. Mubarak said that Lieut. Khaled Ahmed Shawki al-Istanbuli, the leader of the assassins, was linked to Aboud el-Zoumr, a Moslem fundamentalist who belongs to a violent sect called Takfir Wahigra. Mr. Zoumr and a cousin, Tarek el-Zoumr, were captured last week in a gunfight near the pyramids. In his first interview since becoming President last Wednesday, Mr. Mubarak was asked what the link was. He said: ''Ah, it is one net. It is one net.'' At another point, he said the assassins were part of ''a net, but it is limited.''

Mayor Koch and his observations on race relations provoked controversy again, this time over the weekend in Baltimore, where Democratic Party leaders gathered to search their souls as part of a newly formed National Strategy Council. School busing and quotas have not worked and perhaps have even aggravated racial tensions, the Mayor said. As it has before, that comment touched off a heated exchange between the Mayor and his old friend and nemesis, Representative Charles B. Rangel of Manhattan. Of all the disputes that have arisen during Mr. Koch's four years at City Hall, none has been as enduring as the matter of his sensitivity or insensitivity to racial minorities. But overshadowed in Baltimore was the fact that the Mayor had come forth with a thorough assault on virtually every major Democratic initiative of the last two decades.

The recession that President Reagan has said is under way will likely drive unemployment to a rate of more than 8 percent this winter, an Administration economist predicted today. Yesterday, President Reagan said that the economy was in a recession. It was the first such acknowledgement from the Administration. The prospect of many more jobless workers, together with the possibility of lower tax revenues and a higher Federal deficit, will likely complicate and intensify the debate in Congress over how much to cut nonmilitary spending.

With delays for the nation's air travelers nearly twice what they were last month, the Federal Government imposed strict new regulations yesterday on private pilots seeking to use the strikedepleted air traffic control system. Corporate and other private craft were placed under a quota system that requires reservations for trips made under instrument, or nonvisual, flight rules. Commercial airline traffic, which has been operating under a quota system since most members of the controllers' union struck Aug. 3, will be further curtailed starting Dec. 1. J. Lynn Helms, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration, said the new rules were aimed at ''balancing general aviation and the air carriers at the same reduced levels'' of traffic. General aviation refers to mostly smaller planes operated by corporations and private individuals.

More than most companies in the business of drilling offshore oil wells around the globe, Sedco Inc. has found itself in the spotlight during the last few years - and not always in ways it would like. In 1979, Sedco watched helplessly as 16 of its drilling rigs, a shipyard and construction equipment were swallowed up by the whirlwind of the Iranian revolution. The losses in Iran were written off at $50 million. But tomorrow, when the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal convenes in The Hague, Sedco will be seeking what is believed to be one of the largest repayments of damages claimed by any American company as a result of Iran's expropriation of American assets there. In its claim of more than $175 million, Sedco seeks to recapture both the value of the lost equipment and the lost revenue that the equipment would have generated.

WIDESPREAD By JANE E. BRODY THE Roman orgy, a prolonged feast interspersed with periodic purging to make continued gorging possible, was an occasional event among the wealthy in ancient Rome. But today this binge-and-purge behavior has become a daily affair for growing numbers of young women, threatening their health and interfering with their lives. For some, the syndrome, known as bulimia (from the Greek, meaning ''ox hunger''), has evolved into a $50-to-$100-a-day food habit that has forced them into bankruptcy, stealing and even prostitution. Victims may consume up to 55,000 calories in an hour or two, then induce vomiting and repeat the behavior as often as four times a day. Others take laxatives - as many as 300 a week - to prevent their bodies from retaining the enormous amounts of food they consume. Psychotherapists at eating disorders clinics around the country say the secretive phenomenon, which nearly always starts with a stringent diet to lose weight, is now epidemic on college campuses. A single newspaper article on bulimia in Los Angeles brought 50 calls from desperate victims. A news service article emanating from the Eating Disorders Clinic at Massachusetts General Hospital two weeks ago brought 50 referrals in one day. And a program on bulimia broadcast on British television drew 10,000 letters from people who wanted help.

They have been the sugar plum fairies and the enchanted princes - the bright young stars of local ballet schools and small regional companies. Many had never seen a major company perform. But family life typically revolved around their aspirations and their clockwork schedules, dictated by juggling school, homework and ballet. Now, as if by the wave of a wand, 11 such teen-age dancers from around the country have themselves been transformed. The American Ballet Theater and Patricia Wilde, the troupe's school director, have turned them into novitiates in the strenuous, competitive hierarchy of New York ballet.

The Labor Department called today for the ouster of the three trustees of the Grumman Corporation's pension plan in a lawsuit that, if successful, would help the LTV Corporation in its $450 million bid to take over Grumman. The department asked Judge Jacob Mishler of the United States District Court to appoint outsiders to replace the trustees, who are all top Grumman officials, on the ground that they violated provisions of Federal pension law designed to prevent the assets of employee pension plans from being used to benefit the company. Robert Eccles, a Labor Department attorney, said in court here that the trustees had breached their responsibilities to the plan's beneficiaries when they authorized the purchase of 1.16 million shares of Grumman stock last week at $38 a share in an effort to help block the LTV bid. That $38 price, the Labor Department suit noted, was a record high.

An arbitrator ruled yesterday that New York City could discontinue shortened summer hours for many of its employees and establish a uniform policy on lateness for work. As a result, the city expects to save $4.5 million a year. But on another issue between the city and District Council 37 of the State, County and Municipal Employees, the arbitrator, Peter Seitz, ruled in favor of the union's demand that employees have the right to authorize automatic payroll deductions from salary checks to provide funds for union contributions to Federal election campaigns. Mayor Koch had strongly opposed such deductions for political purposes and had vetoed a City Council bill that would have allowed them.