What was going on when I was born?

Administration officials told Congress today that El Salvador faced a ''crisis'' and could run out of military supplies in 30 days unless the United States provided an additional $60 million in military aid. At the same time the two officials -Thomas O. Enders, Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs and Nestor D. Sanchez, Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary for Inter-American Affairs - insisted that ''major national interests'' of the United States were at stake in El Salvador. Should the Salvadoran Government be defeated by the guerrillas, the officials said, the result would threaten other nations in Central America as well as Mexico and the Panama Canal. ''We understand the concern of those who remember the specter of Vietnam that the war in El Salvador is being 'Americanized,' '' said Mr. Sanchez, who appeared before the House Foreign Affairs Committee's panel of Western Hemisphere Affairs. ''But Vietnam was 10,000 miles away. El Salvador is a contiguous region right at our doorstep. San Salvador is closer to Washington, D.C. than is San Francisco.''

TRUCK drivers are an independent, sometimes cantankerous bunch, and they do not agree on much. But many, certainly those who are regulars on Eastern Seaboard runs, do agree on this: the Jarrell Truck Plaza, at the Doswell exit of Interstate 95, a well traveled route that runs 1,700 miles from Houlton, Me., to Fort Pierce, Fla., offers some of the best truck-stop food in America. Jarrell's, which is about 20 miles north of Richmond, offers ribeye steak, chicken-fried steak, fried country ham, pit-cooked barbecue pork, batter-dipped flounder, fried oysters, crab cakes, made-to-order cheeseburgers, mashed potatoes, corn muffins, hush puppies, stewed tomatoes, beans, hot cakes with maple syrup, cream chipped beef on toast or biscuits, eggs with bacon or sausage, pork brains or corned-beef hash, home fries, grits, bread pudding, shortcake, cobbler, pie -about everything, it would seem, that a hungry driver might have a hankering for after a long stint manhandling an 18-wheel tractor-trailer. The establishment is especially noted for its Southern fried chicken, country-style steak, hamburger steak with onions and gravy, and homemade rolls and biscuits. Gordon Taylor, the food-service director and a former trucker himself, takes pride in the food. ''I don't believe anybody can beat my fried chicken, no sir,'' he said. The biscuits seem of fine quality, too, warm, light and flavorful - like grandmothers make.

International Israel turned down a compromise advanced by the United States to resolve some major differences with Lebanon on the terms for an Israeli troop withdrawal from Lebanon, according to Reagan Administration officials. But they said that the special envoy, Philip C. Habib, would make another attempt to persuade the Israelis to accept the plan when he returns to Israel today. (Page A1, Column 6.) El Salvador faces a ''crisis'' and could run out of military supplies in 30 days unless Washington provides $60 million more in military aid, according to Reagan Administration officials. They insisted that ''major'' American interests were at stake in preventing a Salvadoran rebel takeover. (A1:5.)

Martin S. Feldstein, President Reagan's chief economist, said today that the Administration would revise its forecast for slow economic growth this year to take account of declining oil prices and recent signs that the economy's recovery might be stronger than expected. The Administration's current, slow-growth forecast, which is just a month old, was one of the key projections on which the budget for the 1984 fiscal year was based. But senior Administration officials, notably Treasury Secretary Donald T. Regan, have been pushing privately for new projections showing sharper growth in the gross national product in 1983 than the Administration's projection of 3.1 percent. The G.N.P. forecast is a major factor in determining annual budget projections for spending, revenues and the deficit. But Mr. Feldstein said that the revision in the 1983 forecast was not likely to result in much lowering of the $189 billion deficit now projected for the 1984 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. He added that it was also not likely to result in any major change in Administration budget proposals.

With graphic accounts from witnesses, testimony began yesterday in the first trial in the killing of a black transit worker who authorities say was beaten to death by members of a white mob in the Gravesend section of Brooklyn last June. The defendant, 18-year-old Gino Bova, is charged with murder and other crimes. He is the first of four neighborhood youths scheduled to stand trial in the killing of William Turks, 34. Mr. Turks was one of three black men assaulted by what the police have said was a group of 15 to 20 people armed with bottles and a stick and shouting racial epithets. ''This defendant stood out when he took the stick and went over and began beating on William Turks,'' the prosecutor, Andrew Plump, told the jury in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn.

An article yesterday on S.J. Freedberg, the new chief curator of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, gave his age and birthplace incorrectly. He is 68 and was born in Boston.

The Senate voted approval today of a bill that would provide shipowners with greater flexibility to set common ocean cargo rates and grant them wide immunity from antitrust regulations. The measure is supported by the Administration and it is expected to pass in the House, which overwhelmingly backed such legislation in its last session. The 64-to-33 vote came after Senator Howard M. Metzenbaum, Democrat of Ohio, gave up his long fight to defeat the bill. He had charged that it would permit the companies to raise cargo rates by as much as 20 percent.

Nearly 11 years after development of the space shuttle's powerful main engines began, the new orbiter Challenger sits crippled on its pad at Cape Canaveral because of what officials describe as a design defect in its engines. A 1978 report warned about one of the flawed components that was recently discovered, but the component slipped through standard inspection procedures until it arrived at the Kennedy Space Center on Feb. 4. The delay is also attributable to welding problems and a shortage of spare parts, Congress was told yesterday by Lieut. Gen. James A. Abrahamson, who is in charge of the shuttle program. General Abrahamson, who is the space agency's associate administrator, told a House Science and Technology subcommittee that the fact that various flaws were discovered while they were still on the ground showed the program's conservative approach to safety. He blamed tight budgets in the past for a lack of spare parts, which he said would pose a problem throughout this year.

The barbed-wire fence still stands around the construction site in Morningside Park where Columbia University was going to build its gymnasium. Now, 14 years after student riots forced the university to abandon the project, the park has again become the center of a dispute. On one side are the community groups that have been trying to agree among themselves for all this time how best to renovate the park. Just as everything seemed to be falling into place after years of frustration and delay, a group of preservationists has emerged to oppose the plan. What Morningside Park needs, they say, is not to be redesigned but to be refurbished and restored to essentially the way it was when Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux designed it in 1887.

Up's and down's in Africa's land of a thousand hills A2 Kohl exudes confidence of candidate who thinks he has won A3 French municipal elections are a test for Mitterrand A3 Pope names new Archbishop of San Salvador A4 Around the World A7 Peking says Taiwan's future is not up to U.S. A8 Soviet-Chinese discussions resume in Moscow A9 Lebanon, irked, withdraws official invitation to Koch A10 Two Israeli generals resign over the Beirut massacre A12 Government/Politics Democrats to seek cohesive budget policy A18 Jobs bill gaining its share of pork barrel projects in House Panel A19 Agency looking into E.P.A. consulting contracts A22 Officials negotiate with companies on California dump A22 Panel told Indian Point poses unacceptable threat to city B2 Dyson criticizes opponents of Indian Point plant B2 Layoffs of state employees to proceed despite requests for delay B24 A Cuomo nomineee promotes holistic medicine B24 Washington Talk Briefing B8 The Democratic foreign policy dance for 1984 B8 Chauffeur and secret-keeper to Senate Republican leaders B8 The military is a big business back home B8 General Around the Nation A16 Two city police officers are charged with robbing a store B3 Jersey rail commuters' fears dissipate as bus service increases B4 The Living Section Food Ways to help a busy cook cope C1 A four-star truck stop C1 In defense of butter C3 The 60-Minute Gourmet C3 Food Notes C9 Wine Talk C14 Living Gym clothes: exercises in style C1 Metropolitan Diary C2 Kitchen Equipment C2 Discoveries C6 Scaasi's dresses in bloom C10 Personal Health C13 Arts/Entertainment British TV stations vie for early morning viewers C19 Sam Shepard's "Tooth of Crime" at La Mama Annex C19 Agnieszka Holland's "Provincial Actors" at Film Forum C20 New wave studio in a North Caro lina garage is a success C24 "M*A*S*H" goes out on sentimental note C26 Health/Science "Ideal weight" for long life is ad- justed upward A21 Two new methods of removing kidney stones are reported A21 City's hospital corporation to bor- row money for first time B7 Obituaries Dr. Carlos Varsavsky, president of Lincoln West Associates B7 Frederick L. Hovde, former president of Purdue University B7 Sports Pages 76ers beat Knicks, 106-94, for 10th victory in row B11 Islanders and Canadiens tie, 3-3 B11 Syracuse upsets Villanova, 79-70 B11 Baseball set for $1 billion network TV pactb B11 Al Davis at center of Olympic dispute over Coliseum B11 Pro basketball labor talks break off after 24 minutes B12 Rangers play 3-3 tie with Penguins B12 Devils bow to Oilers, 4-3 B12 Dave Anderson on latest successor to Martin B13 Features/Notes New York Day by Day B2 About New York B3 Sports People B10 Going Out Guide C17 News Analysis Drew Middleton appraises new weapons in Mideast A13 Michael Goodwin on how Koch has been filling key city jobs B3 Editorials/Letters/Op-Ed Editorials A26 Smoking gun at the E.P.A. Time for commuter grit Put the Feds in the ring Topics: Short temper Letters A26 Russell Baker: No more Mr. Clean Guy A27 Pamela S. Falk: America's I.M.F. stake A27 Kathleen A. Hughes: "Inspect- ed" meat A27 John O. Iatrides: To meet Greek needs A27

A revolution is under way in American cooking. It has become the primary focus for cooking schools and cookbooks, young chefs and new restaurants. Next month a conference in New Orleans will be devoted to the subject. Thousands of words have been written about the revolution, which highlights a mixture of culinary cultures; a return to the rustic, the homespun and the simple; an emphasis on fresh fruits and vegetables, fish and poultry in place of red meats; the use of meat as a condiment rather than the center of the meal, and the disappearance of thick gravies and cream sauces. A look at the combined impact of these elements leads to a somewhat unexpected conclusion, one that the professionals are just beginning to talk about: Nutrition and good food can co-exist. All this could not have come at a more opportune time for frazzled cooks. Bombarded with information about the importance of serving nutritious meals, often plagued by the difficulty of combining a job outside the home with reasonably priced, well-prepared meals that do not take all day to prepare, they might find it liberating to know that what is being touted as ''the food of the 80's'' is just the kind of food the everyday cook must produce on a regular basis.

''We understand the concern of those who remember the specter of Vietnam that the war in El Salvador is being 'Americanized.'