What was going on when I was born?

Senior Reagan Administration officials said today that they were becoming increasingly concerned over the United States failure to initiate negotiations for the withdrawal of Israeli, Syrian and Palestinian forces from Lebanon. Because of the impasse, the officials said, it is virtually impossible that the troops would leave by the end of the year, the target date set by the State Department. The officials also said the presence of United States marines in Lebanon as part of an American-French-Italian peacekeeping force would probably be extended well into next year. When President Reagan sent the 1,300 marines to Beirut in September, he said they were going for ''a limited period'' that some officials said would probably mean no longer than the end of this year. Secretary of State George P. Shultz, however, has refused to offer a specific date for when the marines would leave.

Many companies do not get as much time as they would like to plan for changes at the top. But Automatic Data Processing Inc., whose chairman and chief executive officer, Frank R. Lautenberg, was just elected United States Senator from New Jersey, had more than a year. Long before the Senate campaign began last winter, Mr. Lautenberg had picked Josh S. Weston, the president of A.D.P., as his successor at the Clifton, N.J., computer services company. Mr. Weston will assume the additional title of chief executive officer when Mr. Lautenberg leaves for Washington in early January. In the last month, the long-sluggish price of A.D.P. stock rose 30 percent. Financial analysts say that if Mr. Weston, who is well liked in the investment community, can help see A.D.P. through its current troubles, most of them traceable to the recession, the company's future is bright.

New government efforts to repair long-neglected public works are being hampered by the same administrative problems that caused much of the disrepair, according to authorities on the subject. Experts in a range of specialities characterized the public works system as one that is more affected by political considerations than need, leading to projects scheduled mainly to suit the Congressional taste for bringing Federal spending dollars to home districts, or ''pork barrel'' programs. Such political influences promote new construction over repair of old facilities and divide responsibility so there is confusion over the extent of repairs needed and over who should be faulted for the neglect. In addition, the experts say, the efforts to rebuild such basic things as roads, bridges and water and sewer systems fall far short of what is needed. Lacks Cited in Gas Tax Plan The bipartisan legislation now before Congress to raise the Federal gasoline tax by 5 cents a gallon to improve the nation's highways and mass transit systems was frequently cited as the most prominent example. Its sponsors say it would add $5.5 billion a year in new revenue and create 320,000 jobs.

Members of the New York State Legislature return to Albany today to consider proposals to hold down bus, subway and commuter rail fares and to reduce the state's budget deficit. Legislative leaders have scheduled private meetings with their members during the day and plan to report to Governor Carey on the outcome of the talks. If there is agreement on a tax package to finance mass transit, then the Legislature will formally convene for a brief postelection session. ''We will either agree to meet immediately, meet in a few days, or not meet at all,'' Charles Dumas, a spokesman for the Senate majority leader, Warren M. Anderson, said yesterday.

In the promotional literature of Boyden Associates, the big executive search firm, it is noted, ''On any given day, Boyden's worldwide offices are working on over 400 searches. Currently the typical Boyden search falls within the $40,000-$80,000 salary range and takes an average of 90 days to complete.'' Thomas Malatesta, a Boyden vice president, might find that summation amusing. For the last year he has been wrapped up in a search that may yet run for another six months.

''We have no scorched earth policy. We have a policy of scorched Communists.''

RICHFIELD, Ohio EUGENE and Frank, a pair of program vendors, were leaning against a wall in the mezzanine of the Coliseum here. It was in the first quarter of last Wednesday night's quiet game against the Knicks. From their vantage point, the vendors could gaze upon the canyon of empty yellow and brown seats, nearly 18,000 of them. Scattered about was an announced crowd of 2,114, though the figure seemed as inflated as the basketball. ''We used to have 60 vendors working a game, with about 20 on beer,'' said Eugene. ''I'm talking about just a few years ago. People were hollering and jumping.'' A man, looking suspiciously like a cash customer, came in from an entranceway, carrying a cup of beer. As he passed the program vendors, he noticed the red-lighted score on the scoreboard, 23-11, in favor of the Knicks.

International The U.S. failure to start negotiations for the withdrawal of Israeli, Syrian and Palestinian forces from Lebanon is worrying senior Reagan Administration officials. They said that because of the impasse it was now virtually impossible that the troops would leave by the end of the year, the date set by the State Department. (Page A1, Column 6.) Israel cleared a close Lebanese ally of any involvement in the massacre of hundreds of Palestinians in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps near Beirut last September. The state commission investigating the massacre said it had no evidence that forces of Maj. Saad Haddad, leader of a Lebanese Christian militia, had participated in the killings. (A11:1-6.)

Dr. Barney B. Clark, the recipient of the world's first permanent artificial heart, was reported to be sleepy and comfortable today but more reserved about what had been a surprisingly smooth recovery until new surgery was required Saturday night. The artificial heart was implanted early Thursday morning and Dr. Clark had been recovering with a remarkable absence of complications, but Saturday night he underwent surgery for one hour to correct a lung complication that proved to be unrelated to the device. It was described by his doctors at the University of Utah Medical Center as ''a pause in his recovery, rather than a setback.'' His condition remains serious but stable. ''It has been sobering for the family; it was discouraging to Dr. Clark,'' Dr. Chase N. Peterson, the University of Utah vice president for health sciences, said at a news conference today.

Economic growth is likely to resume early in 1983, according to surveys of professional forecasters. But there are questions about the durability of the recovery. Many say that hinges on a continued decline in interest rates. (Page D1.)

A Brooklyn man surrendered to the police yesterday and was charged in three of 11 robberies committed early Friday by gunmen who kicked in the doors of homes and apartments in Queens and Brooklyn and accosted other victims in the streets. The suspect, 22-year-old Larry Jeffries of 275 Livonia Avenue in the East New York section, was also charged with three previous street robberies in Queens, two of them committed with a shotgun. He was identified as the assailant by victims in all six cases, according to the police.

Economic growth is very likely to resume early in 1983, fueled by increased investment in housing and a general rise in consumer outlays. Professional business forecasters in the private sector are in solid agreement on this point, notwithstanding the exceptional weakness in the labor market that was highlighted by the report Friday that the unemployment rate had risen to a post-Depression high of 10.8 percent. But there is widespread disagreement among economists about the durability of any recovery. And, in fact, some of the most optimistic views now being expressed are coming from analysts - generally nonmonetarist, or Keynesian, in their approach - who until recently were among the severest critics of the Reagan Administration and the Federal Reserve Board.