What was going on when I was born?

President Reagan wants to transfer the Federal food stamp program to the states as part of a sweeping proposal to redefine Federal and state responsibilities for social welfare, Administration officials said today. Under the proposal, they said, the states would take full financial responsibility for the $11.3 billion food stamp program, which has been financed almost entirely by the Federal Government for 20 years. Federal responsibilities for welfare and perhaps some other programs would also be transferred to the states. In exchange, the plan calls for the Federal Government to assume state Medicaid costs. These costs for the medical assistance plan for poor people are now so large and are growing so fast that state savings under the Reagan proposal would nearl y offset the additional costs imposed on the states for welfare and f ood stamps, according tocomputations by the Office of Management and Budget.

An article on Wednesday about El Salvador gave an incorrect figure for the number of deaths that a Roman Catholic organization, Pax Christi In- ternational, says have occurred there. The correct figure is 20,000.

Saudi car craze is both a blessing and a blight A2 U.S. offers some aid to the press in the third world A2 Montreal transit strike ends after six days A3 Seoul proposing to exchange en- voys with North Korea A4 Around the World A6 Japanese ship captain denies car- rying arms to Filipino rebels A6 Soviet warns Angola on U.S. moves A8 Go vernment/Politics Legislature in Hartford votes to repeal a business tax B3 Williams seeks stay of sentence on bribery charges B4 Washington Talk Briefing A16 The President ponders increasing taxes A16 The workings of the Joint Eco- nomic Committee A16 Four Presidents and their chari- table contributions A16 General Around the Nation A12 Control of prisons at issue in Framingham raid A14 Report identifies sites of nuclear weapons A14 Rikers prisoners discover pride in work at parks B3 Two pistols found in apartment of Brink's suspect B4 Boat dealer describes how buyers avoided state sales tax B4 Franklin Ave. subway shuttle in Brooklyn shut for repairs B5 PARKING REGULATIONS Because of snow, alternate-side parking is suspended in New York City today. All other rules remain in effect. Weekend Weekender Guide C1 Where to celebrate Chinese Year of the Dog C1 Walking tour of Alley Pond Park and environs C26 Theater: Broadway C2 ''Little Me'' opens at O'Neill Theater C3 ''Zoot Suit,'' directed by Luis Valdez C10 ''A Stranger Is Watching'' opens C12 Dance: ''Ballet Before 1800'' at the Grolier Club C6 Music: Michal Urbaniak, jazz violinist, at Sweet Basil C6 Elisabeth Soederstroem at Tully Hall C8 Art: German photographs at In- ternational Center C21 Art People C22 Early Kandinsky show at Gug- genheim C23 Auctions C24 Robert Graham works at Rob- ert Miller Gallery C25 Books: Publishing C28 ''Memoirs of a Space Traveler'' by Stanislaw Lem reviewed C27 Restaurants C18 TV Weekend C30 Education/Welfare Loss of U.S. aid prompts an early rush to col lege B3 Religion Merger plan for three Lutheran groups advances A11 Style The Evening Hours A18 Midnight bowling in furs and leather, to music A18 The Reagans get a mixed rating on life style A18 Three-star dining in London A18 Obituaries Edward S. (Ned) Irish, founder of the New York Knicks B6 Dr. James Colston, former head of Bronx Community College B6 B5 Sports Knicks top Hawks, 104-101 A23 Wake Forest upsets top-ranked North Carolina, 55-48 A23 Islanders rout Penguins, 6-1 A23 Angels and players' union in dis- pute over Reggie Jackson A23 Dave Anderson on the Silver- dome's super-rookie matchup A23 N.F.L. players' union warns of strike next season A25 Three Meadowlands jockeys in- dicted in Jersey bribe inquiry A26 Features/Notes Sports People A26 Notes on People B5 News Analysis Joyce Purnick analyzes tax- abatement measure B3 Editorials/Letters/Op-Ed Editorials A30 Autonomy, American style Judging the Reagan mistakes The search for the true B.A. Aim again with a realty tax Letters A30 Tom Wicker: Reagan's ''great hinge'' A31 Flora Lewis: entangling econo- mies A31 Robert Dole: reciprocity in U.S. trade A31 Rubin Zamora: two approaches to saving Salvador A31

The Juilliard School is presenting a free six-concert festival of contemporary music, including 14 world, American or New York premieres. But the first concert, tonight at 8 at Alice Tully Hall, will offer previously heard major works: Elliott Carter's Variations for Orchestra, George Crumb's ''Echoes of Time and the River'' and the Eighth Symphony of Peter Mennin, the president of Juilliard. The Juilliard Orchestra under the direction of Stanislaw Skrowaczewski will perform. On Sunday at 3 P.M., a chamber music concert in the Juilliard Theater will include works by Lawrence Widdoes, Leslie Bassett, Milton Babbitt and Roy Harris. The festival runs through Jan. 29. Information: 874-7515 or 874-0465.

Judge Harold H. Greene today ordered a fulldress public review of the Federal antitrust settlement that frees the American Telephone and Telegraph Company to enter new businesses after divesting itself of its 22 local operating companies. Judge Greene, in a seven-page order, outlined procedures for getting information about the settlement to the public and repeated an earlier statement that he would not approve the two-week-old agreement until he determined it was in the public interest. First, he set aside an order issued by Judge Vincent P. Biunno in Newark on Jan. 11 approving the settlement as a modification of an earlier consent decree that has limited A.T.& T. to regu- A shift in depreciation policy that would raise phone rates won F ederal approval. A.T.& T. announced management changes to prepare f or its sweeping divestiture. Page D3. lated telephone businesses since 1956. Legal authorities said that Judge Greene had the right to vacate an order by another Federal district court judge because Judge Biunno had given Judge Greene full control of the case in transferring the consent decree to Judge Greene's jurisdiction last week.

President Reagan appeared to be reconsidering increases in excise taxes on gasoline, liquor and tobacco. His uncertainty touched off a battle among advisers for and against the plan. Representative Jack Kemp took the lead in a last-ditch campaign against any tax increases in fiscal year 1983. But Reagan aides are convinced that the President will ask about $15 billion in new taxes. (Page A1.) An increase in the royalty rate for oil and gas leases on Federal land will be sought by the Administration, according to Interior Secretary Jam es G. Watt. (D1.)

The Mayor went out of town, and one of the first things they did was to take down the oil portrait of his favorite predecessor. There was Fiorello H. La Guardia in his gilt-edged frame, on the floor, his face to the wall in a back corridor at Ci ty Hall. No disrespect was intended, it turned out. The people responsible for such things decided that, with Mr. Koch on vacation for eight days in Spain, it was a good time to paint his office. And so everything on the walls had to come down, including the Little Flower.

Administration officials said today that because of the Polish crisis Secretary of State Alexander M. Haig Jr. would probably not agree, as initially planned, to set a starting date for talks on strategic arms reductions when he meets with his Soviet counterpart next week. Instead, they said, Mr. Haig will focus attention in the one-day meeting with Foreign Minister Andrei A. Gromyko on American charges that the Soviet Union was largely responsible for the imposition of martial law in Poland and that this has had a sharp impact on Soviet-American relations. He also plans to raise American concerns about Soviet actions in such places as Afghanistan, the Caribbean, and Cambodia, the officials said. Diluted Response Feared Before martial law was imposed in Poland on Dec. 12, President Reagan's intention was to have Mr. Haig discuss with Mr. Gromyko a starting date for the strategic arms talks, probably in March.

Short-term interest rates rose yesterday, with all of the increase coming in the afternoon after the Federal Reserve Bank drained credit from the banking system. Although the increases in short-term rates were not large - only about an eighth to a quarter of a percentage point - analysts said they were convinced that the Fed had embarked on a more restrictive monetary policy. Yesterday's rate increases were modest, they said, because the markets had only gradually recognized the subtle tightening of the Fed's policy. ''It's like reading tea leaves, so there are no absolute answers,'' one Government securities dealer said, ''but these circumstances are suspicious enough that they may foretell a decision to tighten monetary policy.'' The circumstances he referred to were the 10.3 percent annualized growth rate for the nation's basic money supply over the past eight weeks and the consistency of the Fed's reservedraining moves over the last few weeks.

Joseph M. Margiotta, the chairman of the Nassau County Republican Party, was sentenced today to two years in Federal prison for extorting more than $500,000 in insurance kickbacks for his supporters. But Judge Charles P. Sifton delayed the start of the sentence pending Mr. Margiotta's appeal of his conviction. A jury found the 54-year-old Republican leader guilty last Dec. 9 on one fraud count and five related extortion counts. In a courtroom filled with the Republican leader's political supporters, including three Representatives and more than 20 county officials, the judge said Mr. Margiotta had ''abused the extraordinary confidence'' that had been placed in him as one of the most powerful political figures in the state.

In his first year in office, President Reagan has found it hard to translate the tough anti-Soviet oratory of his campaign into a consistent foreign policy and has had to moderate, reshape or even defer some early objectives because of frustrating realities abroad. Except for his one major initiative, on reducing nuclear arms in Europe, the President has not displayed the personal involvement, enthusiasm, conviction or sure sense of command in foreign affairs that has characterized his economic program or his legislative disputes with Congress. By leaving leadership to others, he has suffered the price of public disarray in the eyes of the Washington political community. Even his recent appointment of William P. Clark, an old friend, as national security advise r may not resolve high-level policy disputes or impose the coherent policy that appears to have eluded the Administratio n in the last year. President Carter's policies on human rights, the spread of nuclear technology, economic relations between developed and developing nations and limiting arms sales to the third world have been set aside or given lower priority as the Republicans emphasized security arrangements and improving relations with pro-American governments in the third world. But events abroad have often hampered the Administration's plans.

With a dramatic $9.5 billion gain in total assets in 1981, the BankAmerica Corporation regained its position as the nation's largest bank holding company, nudging Citicorp into second place. BankAmerica's assets rose to $121.2 billion on Dec. 31, up 8 percent from the end of 1980. Citicorp's assets increased 4 percent, or $4.3 billion, to $119.2 billion. ''That's perfectly O.K. with us,'' said Richard A. Freytag, vice president in charge of Citicorp's investor relations. ''What's most important is to be the most profitable.'' Citicorp's net operating earnings in 1981 amounted to $555 million, or $110 million more than BankAmerica's. ''I'm ecstatic,'' Mr. Freytag said.