What was going on when I was born?

Even while he was accusing his critics of advocating ''surrender'' in Lebanon in recent weeks, President Reagan had decided tentatively to pull American marines back from their airport compound in Beirut, Administration officials said today. The officials said Mr. Reagan set the pullback process in motion on Jan. 21 during a meeting with Donald Rumsfeld, the special Middle East envoy, and top national security aides. Five days later, the Joint Chiefs of Staff drafted a plan for shifting the marines. Mr. Reagan approved the force's removal in principle on Feb. 1, although he had second thoughts on Sunday because of the deteriorating situation in Lebanon. Not until Monday was President Amin Gemayel informed of Mr. Reagan's desire to remove the troops, the Administration officials said. Mr. Gemayel was said to have been given a package deal, in which the pullback would be accompanied by increased military aid and by a promise of increased naval and aerial attacks on his enemies. Administration officials said Mr. Reagan had decided to pull back the marines after determining that they had become too vulnerable to attack and were playing no useful military role in Lebanon.

A million-dollar program of the Transit Authority to fix doors, lights and loudspeakers in the subways fell far short of its goals this year, according to a study released yesterday. In some categories - providing adequate lighting and explanations of delays - service got worse, the study said. It was conducted by the Straphangers Campaign, a consumer advocacy group financed by grants and riders' contributions. ''Our study shows that while some progress is possible, all we have gotten so far is token change,'' said Gene Russianoff, a lawyer for the group. ''We think David Gunn, the new T.A. president, should take a good hard look at how the authority can spend that money and still not screw in enough light bulbs or let the riding public know what's going on.''

Almost 300 reserve buses helped provide near-normal service yesterday in New York City, a day after the entire fleet of Grumman Flxible buses was withdrawn for being unsafe, transit officials said. But they predicted serious difficulties for commuters in the weeks ahead. David L. Gunn, who took over as president of the Transit Authority last week, said there could be a continuing shortage of several hundred buses. Besides the loss of the 851 Grumman Flxible buses, many others that are operating are in need of repairs, he said. There may also be engine design problems in the General Motors RTS04 buses, he added, but did not elaborate. There are 1,685 of these buses in the city's fleet of about 4,000, according to transit officials.

The Druse leader threatened retaliation against American civilians in Lebanon if the Navy continued shelling Druse villages. Page A13. BEIRUT, Lebanon, Feb. 8 - The United States battleship New Jersey bombarded Druse and Syrian gun batteries in Lebanon for more than nine hours today in the heaviest and most sustained American military action since the marines arrived here 16 months ago. The gunfire was directed at targets ''in Syrian-controlled Lebanon which have been firing on the city of Beirut,'' a Marine spokesman, Maj. Dennis Brooks, said. The shells fired into the capital had landed in Christian-dominated East Beirut, several miles from the Marine compound at Beirut International Airport.

The Federal Government, while preparing to tax the Social Security benefits of middle- and upper-income Americans for the first time next year, is offering stronger incentives for people to save for retirement on their own. Indeed, Congress and the Internal Revenue Service have significantly liberalized the rules governing both Individual Retirement Accounts and Keogh retirement plans for self-employed workers. A recent I.R.S. ruling gives taxpayers the opportunity to claim a deduction for a deposit to an I.R.A. or Keogh plan on their 1983 tax return even before they make the contribution. Previously, the contribution had to be made by the time the return was filed. Meanwhile, the limit on contributions to Keogh plans has been raised to 20 percent of earnings, or a maximum of $30,000 for the 1984 tax year. The amount one can deduct on 1983 tax returns remains the lesser of $15,000 or 15 percent of earnings.

David M. Roderick, chairman of the United States Steel Corporation, said today that the steel industry would file a ''tremendous'' number of complaints over unfair trade in steel to put pressure on Washington to negotiate quotas on all imports. He said U.S. Steel and other domestic producers were preparing what would be the first trade complaints against low-priced steel imports from Australia, Finland and Sweden, and would seek penalty duties on steel products from South Korea, Argentina, Venezuela, Spain, South Africa, Rumania and Venezuela. He also said at a breakfast meeting with reporters that five complaints would be filed on Friday, but he did not identify the targets. There are already 27 unfair-trade cases pending in the Commerce Department against 11 countries, most of them developing countries deeply in debt.

In this center of risk-taking commodities traders, there are people who think all day long about tricky subjects like the consumption-based intertemporal capital asset pricing model. They scribble their suppositions on legal pads, and then safely punch them into computers. They hardly ever test the theories with their own money. When they do, they lose just about as often as ordinary people.

FREDERICKSBURG, Tex. DESPITE Texas's persistent reputation for hugeness, the state is the home of what may be the country's smallest houses: the Sunday houses of this town near Austin. No more than a single 15-by-15-foot room, with a sleeping attic above and a porch in front, the houses were conceived and built by farmers in the hill country of central Texas to satisfy a particular need. From the 1880's through the 1920's, they were used by farming families when they drove their horses and wagons into Fredericksburg for Saturday market and Sunday church. The houses were essentially city cabins for German farmers who left the countryside on weekends.

InternationalYugoslav press shows unusual boldnessA2Pentagon press panel hears testimony of news executivesA3State Department calls embassy security a major problemA3General strike by Sikhs disrupts PunjabA4Around the World A5Canada's Senate: It's a job that isn't taxingA6Criminal law revision introduced in CanadaA7Flow of Turkish refugees puts growing burden on GreeceA8High Soviet official plans trip to SyriaA13The factions fighting in Lebanon and how big they areA13Planning for Beirut pullback complicated by recent eventsA14Marine officers in 1983 blast to get ''administrative letters''A14Experts generally back the pullback but express concernA14Israelis discuss Lebanon but reportedly make no decisionsA15For U.S. civilians, the Beirut leave-taking is bittersweetA15U.S. presence provokes misgivings in HondurasA18Shultz promises help with security in CaribbeanA19 Government/PoliticsReagan plan to visit Iowa for caucuses jolts DemocratsA22More women hold leadership roles in Presidential racesA22Glenn campaign stresses his experience in Government A22Deficit talks open but meeting fails to resolve key problemsA24New York City offers waterfront sites to developersB3Clergy and preservationists clash over landmark statusB6U.S. review finds flaws in rail system being built in BuffaloB7Upper West Side board weighs zoning changesB8 The Home SectionHome Rooftop living: the new frontier C1 Design Notebook: Sunday houses in TexasC1 Helpful HardwareC2 Home BeatC3 Replating silver: how and whereC3 Home ImprovementC4 Arts and crafts from Bloomsbury daysC8 Teaching at home with the help of computersC1HersC2Calendar of EventsC11GardeningC12 Arts/EntertainmentJudge's book describes U.S. interference in hijack trialC17Pinter's play ''Old Times'' an exercise in ensemble actingC19Louis Horst, dance critic and choreographer, celebratedC20Unto This Hour'' by Tom Wicker is reviewedC21National Public Radio chief tells of progressC30TV's ''Frontline'' looks at some Americans who support I.R.A.C30Canceled NBC show wins Columbia-DuPont awardC30ABC off to slow start with Olympic GamesC30 Washington TalkCuomo's prescription for Democratic victoryB12 Health/ScienceImmune deficiency victim leaves bubble for treatmentA20 Industry/LaborTrustee is ordered for union run by ProvenzanosB6 Education/WelfareCity-suburban desegregation plan upheld for St. LouisA21Economist named dean of Harvard Arts and SciencesA23 ObituariesSterry R. Waterman, former Federal appeals judgeD22 Sports PagesPlays: A long shot winds up on the moneyB16Yankees lose Belcher to A'sB17Winter Olympics are formally opened at SarajevoB17American hockey coach says team was afraid of failureB17Technology brings escalation in bobsled rivalryB17Rangers beat Jets, 3-1B17Olympic NotebookB18Players: Cindy Nelson battles an injuryB18Dave Anderson on the pageantry of Olympic ceremonyB19Nets beaten by Bulls in overtime, 114-110B20Knicks' streak stopped by Bucks, 113-103B20 Features/NotesMan in the News: William J. Catacosinos, Lilco's new chiefB2New York Day by DayB3Sports PeopleB16Going Out GuideC32 News AnalysisDrew Middleton examines implications of Marine pullbackA14 Editorials/Letters/Op-EdEditorialsA30 How much defense? For what? Who needs Federal death? An abusive amendment Topics: Well used LettersA30Anthony Lewis: Reagan's responsibilityA31Cynthia A. Roberts: Is the Soviet military rising in power?A31Luis Burstin: Myths on Latin upheavalsA31John W. Macy: Candidates, discuss appointees nowA31

The Speaker of the House, Thomas P. O'Neill Jr., said today that President Reagan's new policy of shelling Syrian and Druse artillery positions that were firing into the Beirut area was ''absolutely not'' within the authorization granted by the Lebanon war powers resolution that Congress adopted last fall. The Speaker was among several Congressional leaders who either questioned whether the new policy exceeded the constraints of the Lebanon resolution or deplored the policy as both illegal and unwise. ''He's going much further than I expected him to go,'' said Mr. O'Neill, who last fall was a major supporter of the resolution authorizing deployment of United States marines in Lebanon for up to 18 months. The Massachusetts Democrat said that at a breakfast this morning with Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger, ''I advised him to get the marines out as soon as possible.''

Amid multiple signs of an expanding economy, a sharply dissonant note is being sounded by the stock market. Yesterday's 24-point plunge in the widely watched Dow Jones industrial average was only the latest decline in a monthlong market slide. In early January, market analysts were talking optimistically of an election year bull market that would break the 1,300 mark on the Dow. Now they are talking instead of a continuing fall, and whether the Dow will tumble through 1,150 or 1,100. ''There's no great mystery about it,'' said William Freund, senior vice president and chief economist at the New York Stock Exchange. ''In the last couple of weeks, there's been a sudden realization that nothing is going to be done to deal with the deficit problem, at least in the dimensions required.''

Senior Administration officials said today that President Reagan's decision to authorize unlimited naval and air strikes against any shelling of Beirut from Syrian lines was made in part to deter Syria from attacking the marines now that they are to be moved to ships off shore. One State Department official said that ''it is important that the Syrians get the message that they should not try to humiliate the United States by targeting the marines.'' The White House spokesman also warned Syria against concluding that the marines' pullback represented any lessening of the American determination to support the Lebanese Government. The spokesman, Larry Speakes, said the decision was not to ''cut and run'' but to move the marines out of a ''static'' situation for a more effective strategy. (Page A12.)