What was going on when I was born?

''I think there has been quite a drumbeat of criticism that has gone largely unanswered by us with regard to some of the programs that I have advocated and, of course, there is the unhappiness that exists for all of us in the present recession.'' - President Reagan. (A8:3.)

In an effort to avoid a deterioration in Chinese-American relations, Secretary of State Alexander M. Haig Jr. called in the Chinese Ambassador today to urge Peking to accept an American proposal for dealing with the issue of American military sales to Taiwan. Key members of Congress have been told by officials that the Administration would, in the next two weeks, make public its plans to sell Taiwan $60 million in promised American military spare parts, a move that Peking has said would produce a ''retrogression'' in relations because it is opposed in principle to the sale of any military equipment to Taiwan. The State Department declined to provide details of the meeting between Mr. Haig and Ambassador Chai Zemin, but Mr. Haig's decision to intervene personally was seen by Congressional sources as signaling the Administration's desire to avoid seeing relations with China take a turn for the worse. Mr. Chai was reported by a member of Congress as having told him that he is returning to China for consultations.

Although his gubernatorial candidacy is less than two months old, Mayor Koch has quickly won so much support among Democratic Party leaders that, barring unforeseen events, he will control the designating meeting of the Democratic State Committee in June. That control would insure not only his designation as the committee's endorsed candidate but also very likely the ratification of his selection of running mates for Lieutenant Governor and Comptroller. This designation of a full unchallenged ticket would be unusual, for in recent Democratic state history candidates have been selected in primaries rather than by party leaders and gubernatorial contenders. The early Koch majority appears so solid, according to sources within the party, that some of his supporters are threatening to deny Lieut. Gov. Mario M. Cuomo 25 percent of the vote, which would give him a place on the gubernatorial primary ballot, unless he pledges to support the winner of the Democratic primary in the general election.

The losses of the approximately 3,200 federally insured savings and loan associations reached a record $3.1 billion in the July-December period - more than twice the old record of $1.5 billion set in the first half of the year - the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, which regulates federally chartered savings and loans, reported today. Moreover, almost 85 percent of the nation's savings and loan associations suffered losses in last year's second half, more than double the proportion in the similar period a year earlier, the board reported. The board attributed the heavy losses to the ''further widening in the spread between cost of funds and mortgage portfolio yield.'' It added, ''Both increased during the recent semiannual period, but the cost of funds increase was considerably more.''

It's becoming an all-too-familiar saga. The grapevine began to hum last year that the Superior Oil Company was a ripe takeover target. After management began, as one official put it, ''to see its name in print,'' a concerned Superior board approved ''special termination agreements'' sheltering all present and future officers of the company. If outsiders came in, any executive who was shown the door or quit would be consoled with two years' pay. ''It's just prudent business in today's environment,'' a functionary at Superior explained. The prospect of an unwanted takeover bid scares the gold cuff links off some top executives, since if they do not hit it off with the new boss they may be cleaning out their desks. It will not happen like that, though, for the growing number of key officers who have partaken of one of the hottest perks to reach the corporate suite: the ''golden parachute.'' Equipped with this safety device, an executive who is shoved out the door by a new owner will be cushioned by a tidy pile of cash.

The Parks Department made public yesterday its model of the $15 million renovation of the Central Park Zoo - a radical redesign of the present red-brick zoo with its tiny, cell-like cages and limited outdoor spaces. Plans call for the demolition of five of the six buildings around the sea lion pond, leaving only the 1848 Arsenal, which is east of the pond and fronts on Fifth Avenue. The old buildings will be replaced by an elegant, glass-covered brick colonnade supporting a wooden trellis covered with trailing vines. The arcade will connect three spectacular new exhibits: - A tropical building with a simulated rain forest including huge tree trunks and the calls of birds, as well as tropical fish, monkeys, gibbons, leopards, frogs, snakes and giant insects. As in all the other new facilities, there will be no bars of any kind and the only walls will be glass partitions.

DR. HARRY LUSTIG, a physicist, is Dean for Science in the College of Liberal Arts and Science at the City College of the City University of New York, a position he has held since 1972. He is also chairman of the educational advisory committee of the New York Academy of Sciences. In this interview with Gene I. Maeroff, an education writer for The New York Times, Dr. Lustig discusses the problems in science and mathematics education and talks of the need for solutions that recognize the interlocking nature of elementary, secondary and higher education. Dr. Lustig was first asked to elaborate on his views, previously expressed, that the science and mathematics teachers entering the profession are at the lower end of the intellectual scale. A. The facts are that schools of education - which produce the teachers, of course - tend to get the lowest 10 or 20 percent of entering students as measured by S.A.T. scores and by high school averages and by other indicators. At the moment, the problem is not only that we get people on the low end of the scale preparing to teach science and mathematics, but that we don't get anybody.

President Reagan and Speaker of the House Thomas P. O'Neill Jr. expressed optimism today that the stalemate on the budget for the fiscal year 1983 could be resolved through direct negotiations between the White House and Congressional leaders. Their statements marked turnarounds by both men. It was the first time that Mr. Reagan had spoken favorably of the plan for a ''summit'' meeting that would include the Democratic Transcript of news session, page A8. opponents of his budget. Although Representative O'Neill, Democrat of Massachusetts, has advocated such a meeting, he had not previously held out any hope that it would take place.

New car sales by the Big Three auto makers rose 26.8 percent in the last 10-day selling period of March, the companies reported. G.M.'s sales rose 53 percent and Ford's 3.2 percent, while Chrysler's fell 7.3 percent. (Page D1.) Conrad and G. Montegu Black want to acquire Hanna Mining. The brothers' strategy emerged when Norcen Energy Resources, which they control, offered $45 a share for enough Hanna shares to give it 51.5 percent. (D1.)

RUMORS fly: An office staff is about to be cut; maybe a plant is closing. Fear spreads throughout the company, accompanied by depression and self-doubt - typical signs of what has come to be known as ''the pink slip syndrome.'' As researchers increasingly realize, this syndrome can affect many more people than those who actually lose their jobs. In varying degrees it affects their families, their friends, their co-workers and neighbors, making everyone more edgy and anxious. As the recession grows - only Friday the latest figures showed the highest unemployment rate in the nation since World War II -so does the ripple effect of each layoff or threatened layoff. Mental-health clinics in various parts of the country report a sharp rise in the number of people seeking help for family disturbances or emotional problems related to the recession.

More than two months after Jack Henry Abbott was convicted of manslaughter in the stabbing of an aspiring actor, Richard Adan, important questions in the case are unresolved. They are questions rarely raised in the aftermath of a killing - questions of dollars and cents. They concern the value of a dead man's life, the potential profitability of killing to the killer and the liability of prison officials for fatal lapses in judgment. Last fall Mr. Adan's widow, Ricci, represented by F. Lee Bailey, sued Mr. Abbott for $10 million in State Supreme Court in Manhattan - half for the wrongful death of her husband, the other for her own travails. Prisoner Is Wealthy It is an unusual proceeding, given the impecunious lot of most criminal defendants. But though he may be imprisoned for the next 25 years, Jack Henry Abbott has become relatively wealthy through his writing while in prison.

The Supreme Court today made it more difficult to challenge the fairness of seniority systems that have been in place since the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed employment discrimination based on race or sex. By a vote of 5 to 4, the Court held that such seniority systems were legal, regardless of their effect on women or members of minority groups, as long as they were not adopted for a discriminatory purpose. The Court also ruled that new trials had erroneously been granted to two prisoners who did not raise their constitutional objections to trial procedures soon enough. (Page 18.)