What was going on when I was born?

-------------------------------------------------------------------- Evan Jones is the author of ''American Food: The Gastronomic Story'' (Random House and Vintage Books), ''A Food Lover's Companion'' (Harper & Row), and ''The World of Cheese'' (Knopf). By EVAN JONES AMERICAN food is more all-embracing in scope than perhaps it ever was. In the last decade Americans have turned to new combinations of cooking styles with interest far more catholic than the transient enthusiasm for haute cuisine that began in the 1950's with the jetage vacation jaunts to foreign parts. Tempted first by the classic culinary traditions, home cooks and diners-out have dealt with the nuances of nouvelle cuisine, just as they have learned the subtleties of an array of Oriental kitchens. We've passed through a decade of assimilation - borrowing from one cuisine to make another better. Our burgeoning gastronomic stance has worked small wonders through the use of the new kitchen technology and the express demand for specialty foods as well. And at least as significant is the growing insistence on absolute freshness of ingredients.

New York State employees may be asked to shorten their paid workweek to forestall thousands of layoffs. That is one of the many budget proposals that stand behind the annual State of the State Message Governor Carey will deliver to the Legislature Wednesday. The workweek proposal was immediately attacked by the employees' union. The Governor, who has spoken frequently of the fiscal crisis facing the state this year, also plans to offer virtually no increases in general local aid, and will present an education aid proposal certain to cut assistance to many of the state's wealthier school districts.

Chancellor Helmut Schmidt of West Germany, for the first time directly criticizing Soviet i n volvement in the Polish crisis, joined President Reagan today in expr essing concern about ''the serious pressure'' brought by Moscow ag ainst Polish efforts forchange. Mr. Schmidt's comments about the Russians were milder than those uttered by Mr. Reagan and other American officials. But they were welcomed by Reagan Administration officials as a signal that West Germany was prepared to join with the rest of the alliance in possible steps against the Soviet Union if the crisis persisted in Poland. NATO Ministers Meet Monday Mr. Sch midt said in a news conference later in the day that the foreign minis ters of the Atlantic alliance would discuss future movesat a meeting next Monday in Brussels.

The Exxon Corporation said yesterday that Libya had agreed to compensate the huge oil company for the Libyan assets it abandoned in November. The move, analysts said, suggested a new moderation on the part of the Governmen t of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi. At the time of Exxon's withdrawal from the country - considered highly unusua l in an industry that has been reluctant to sacrifice any secure so urce of crude oil - Libya said Exxon's action did not conform with Libya's oil laws and was ''tantamount to failure to carry out leg al commitments and a unilateral breach of contract.'' Reserves and Liquefaction Plant That attitude on the part of the Tripoli Government led some industry analysts to suggest that Exxon would receive no compensation for its properties, which include oil and gas reserves, producing wells, pipelines and a plant to liquefy natural gas for shipment to Europe.

The Dow Jones industrial average plunged 17.22 points, to 865.30, yesterday as investors reacted to a surprise increase in the nation's basic money supply and to forecasts of higher interest rates by a prominent economist. These developments, coming in the face of eroding corporate profits and a recession of undetermined severity, apparently served to unnerve small and large stockholders alike. In the credit markets, a late rally erased some, but not all, of the substantial price declines that Government, corporate and taxexempt bonds suffered in earlier trading. Rates of short-term issues also rose. (Page D7.)

The writer, who interviewed himself for this article, holds the world's hyphen championship, inasmuch as he is a comedian-novelistpoet-composer-pianist-actor -producer-playwright. By STEVE ALLEN Q. You have been described as a workaholic. Are you one, in fact? A. No. I am a holiworkic. This means that the whole of me is usually working, although I am not compulsive about it, simply competent - to a modest degree -in several professional areas.

Due to an editing error, an article in The Times on Sunday incorrectly iden- tified the winner of the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for local investigative reporting. The winner was The Pottsville (Pa.) Republican; The Chicago Sun-Times was a leading contender but was re- jected by the prize board because of its use of disputed reporting techniques.

By her own account, Paula Redd, an attractive 23-year-old black, is a ''very social person.'' A native of Rye, N.Y., she left Westchester County five years ago to attend Indiana University, where she graduated last year with a degree in music. She returned home, found a job as an office manager at the YWCA here and is pursuing an operatic career. Her background and her personality would appear to make for an active social life. But Miss Redd , who is single, finds that she spends many o f her evenings and weekends alone in her one-bedroom apartment in White Plains. ''When you do venture out to some of the black clubs or discos, you see the same faces,'' she said. ''Westchester's small, and there are so few blacks that it's hard to meet a potential mate or partner. A lot of blacks work in the suburbs but live in the city. I end up spending a lot of time at home reading, practicing voice or dining with friends.''

The F.B.I. has started a preliminary investigation into the shooting of a member of the Guardian Angels last week by a Newark police officer, a spokesman for the bureau said today. Tim Mahoney, the spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Investigation in its Newark field office, said the request for the inquiry had come from the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department in Washington. However, a Justice Department spokesman in Washington said the ''preliminary inquiry'' had been initiated by the bureau's Newark office and had been given the go-ahead by officials in Washington.

With time running out, the Mobil Corporation asked Chief Justice Warren E. Burger today to block the United States Steel Corporation's $6.2 billion takeover of the Marathon Oil Company. But it appeared that Mobil will not hear Justice Burger's decision until only hours before U.S. Steel is free to begin buying Marathon's shares - at 12:01 A.M. Thursday. Well over 51 percent of the shares have already been tendered to U.S. Steel. Mobil, the nation's second-largest oil company, asked Chief Justice Burger this morning to freeze the takeover fight until the full Supreme Court could hear Mobil's formal appeal for a review of the lower court antitrust rulings that have stopped the giant oil company from proceeding with its own $6.5 billion bid for Marathon. The Chief Justice did not respond to Mobil's petition before the Court closed today.

Nicaraguan scene: fiery slogans and designer jeans A2 The mystery of the missing Fili- pino athlete continues A3 Syria pressing for harsh U.N. sanctions against Israel A3 Ghana's new leader pledges sweeping changes in society A4 Around the World A5 Polish airwaves: Deputy Prime Minister's speech A6 Freed Solidarity activist de- scribes prison conditions A7 Text of Reagan-Schmidt state- ment A7 South Africa charges white mercenaries with hijacking A9 Government/Politics Yale Law School professor sworn in as U.S. Appeals Court judge B2 U.S. drops fr aud suit against Gen- eral Dynami cs B9 Democrat criticism varies on Reagan approach B12 Washington Talk Briefing A16 Congress: self-preservation in an election year A16 Washington Follow-Up A16 On this visit, Schmidt does not seem relaxed A16 General Around the Nation A12 Port Authority buys a Jersey City railyard B2 Shelter program for homeless found in general compliance B3 Author refusing to give up tapes in Penthouse trial B24 Education/Welfare Some Brooklyn pupils again get leftover food for lunch B3 Excerpts from ruling overturning Arkansas creation law B8 The Living Section Food Preparation of food in Amer- ica: a decade of change C1 Cooking: a trend toward ''less well done'' C1 A week's strategy for 30-minute meals C1 But seriously, folks: Steve Allen on small talk C1 The 60-Minute Gourmet C3 U.S. is proposing leaner beef grades C4 Living Metropolitan Dairy C2 Kitchen Equipment C2 Beefalo: There are few on the range C3 Whither hemlines? Well, up and down C8 Discoveries C8 Personal Health C11 Arts/Entertainment An author thinks rock fans have a death wish C15 ''100 Stars'' and then some to benefit Actors' Fund on Feb. 14 C15 Met performs first ''Tannhauser'' of the season C16 Sam Shepard's ''The Unseen Hand'' revived at La Mama C20 Jorge Bolet and Itzhak Perlman with Juilliard Quartet C20 Margaret Millar's suspense novel ''Mermaid'' is reviewed C20 Features/Notes About New York B3 Going Out Guide C17 Notes on People B6 Sports People D18 Sports St. John's to meet Georgetown and Ewing tonight D18 Princeton beats Fairfield, 50-49 D18 Steinbrenner asks Yanks to re- port early for spring training D19 Giants prepare shopping list for college draft D19 Knicks turn back Bucks, 112-102 D19 Nadia Comenici's ex-coach tries to adjust to American way D19 B7 (B8:2.) Cosmos win 8-6, ending five-game losing streak D20 Red Smith on Luis Aparicio and the Hall of Fame D21 Nets defeat Bullets, 114-108 D21 Obituaries John R. Miller. former head of Hearst Corporation B15 Hans Conried, stage, screen and TV actor B15 News Analysis Karen W. Arenson discusses the influence of Henry Kaufman D6 Editorials/Letters/Op-Ed Editorials A18 Reinventing the wheel The faithless Fed Family values Topics: omissions Letters A18 James Reston: from Allen to Clark to what? A19 Russell Baker: a gift of gab for the speaksman A19 Zbigniew Brzezinski: on national security advisers A19 George F. Kennan: as the Krem- lin sees it A19

David H. Murdock, the Los Angeles real estate developer and investor who put together the deal earlier this year under which Occidental Petroleum bought Iowa Beef, has now made a $375 million offer for the Cannon Mills Company, the nation's seventh-largest publicly held textile manufacturer. Cannon announced yesterday that it had received an unsolicited acquisition offer, for $40 a share, from the Pacific Holding Corporation, a company owned by Mr. Murdock. Following a board meeting, Cannon announced that the proposal would be referred to the company's financial advisers. However, analysts said that they did not expect Cannon to accept the offer.