What was going on when I was born?

FRIDAY, MARCH 23, 1984 The Economy Factory orders for durable goods fell 1.2 percent in February, the first decline in seven months. But analysts said that, amid the many recent signs of strength in the economy, the Commerce Department report should not be read as an indication that expansion had stalled. Much of the decline came in orders for steel and other metals, though those for household goods also slid. (Page D1.)

The Government reported today that factory orders for durable goods fell in February for the first time in seven months, but analysts said the 1.2 percent decline was not a sign that the economic recovery had stalled. The Commerce Department reported that new orders for durable goods - defined as products expected to last three or more years - fell $1.2 billion in February, to $99.7 billion. Much of the decline came from an 8.8 percent decline in orders for steel and other primary metals, a category that rose sharply in January. Orders for household goods also fell - by a sharp 11.8 percent - in a possible indication that pent-up consumer demand dating back to the recession has been largely satisfied.

The leaders of the Legislature said today that they had reached agreement on the outlines of a $35 billion state budget that would sharply raise spending on education. They said the spending plan would not cut taxes, but they held out the hope that reductions might be considered later in the year. Governor Cuomo, in sharp contrast to last year's process, played no role in the negotiations on the budget that he proposed in January. A 10-Minute Meeting The Governor was told of the agreement in a 10-minute meeting this morning with the leaders.

A dispatch from Denver on Wednesday about the conflict between the governor of New Mexico and a conservative coalition in the state senate misidentified the state's first Hispanic governor. He was Jerry Apodaca, who served from 1974 to 1978.

-styled authority on the Russian avant-garde as it flourished in the first quarter of this century. One of the other, earlier and far from disreputable Russian activities that have found few to defend them in this country is the school of realism that flourished in the second half of the 19th century. The realism in question was weighty in its execution, moralistic in its overtones and based upon the kind of exact social observation that we find in the great Russian novels of the same period (and in others, which, though not so great, are still wonderful). Symbol and metaphor had no place there, except by implication, and the paintings that resulted stood on their own two feet and told it how it was.

Seagulls screamed in a brisk sea breeze, but the sun was hot on the tin-roofed tar-paper shacks, tipsy little sun decks and salvage-lumber docks at the Greene Street Boat Club Inc. A mile or so north is the Holland Tunnel and a billboard proclaiming, ''Welcome to the other side of New York.'' The 60 or 70 shacks cling to the banks of the Jersey City mouth of the abandoned Morris Canal, near the boundary of Liberty State Park and with a nontourist view of its namesake statue. From the top of the World Trade Center, the Greene Street Boat Club would be an insignificant speck. From the club, the twin towers loom straight up from across the Hudson.

Edwin Meese 3d, with President Reagan's endorsement, asked Attorney General William French Smith today to seek appointment of a special prosecutor to conduct a ''comprehensive inquiry'' into allegations against him. But he said he still intended to serve as Attorney General. ''I am anxious to respond to any charges raised against me in an atmosphere which will provide for a fair and complete hearing,'' Mr. Meese said in a statement. ''I intend to pursue the vindication of my name, the honor of my family, and the confidence of the President of the United States in nominating me.''

The New York City Department of Investigation said yesterday that Anthony J. Alvarado had repeatedly violated ethical standards, disregarded laws and regulations and ''failed to faithfully execute'' his duties as leader of the largest school system in the country. In a sweeping interim report that examined Mr. Alvarado's finances and his behavior as a superintendent in East Harlem and as Chancellor, the department reached a number of conclusions. These were among them: - That he violated the Board of Education's conflict-of-interest provisions. - That he violated the City Charter's provisions regarding ethics. - That he consistently solicited money from subordinates ''in a manner that was inherently coercive and frequently deceptive.''

A chart in Business Day on Wednesday, with an article on oil mergers, omitted one company from a listing of domestic oil reserves held by major corporations. The Standard Oil Company (Indiana) had reserves of 1.66 billion barrels at the end of 1982.

American-Soviet talks are being held and ''could lead to some kind of progress on the more serious issues,'' according to Arthur A. Hartman, the American Ambassador in Moscow. Mr. Hartman said he hoped for an early resumption of negotiations on a new United States-Soviet cultural and scientific exchange agreement. (Page A1, Columns 3-4.) Israeli elections in May or June are sought by a narrow majority in Parliament. The governing coalition of Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir is expected to delay action on the proposals to gain time to submit its own measure next week setting an election date this fall. (A1:5.)

Senator Gary Hart told a leading American Jewish group yesterday that he opposed the sale of sophisticated weapons to Arab opponents of Israel, that he considered Israeli settlements on the West Bank legal and that he would, if elected, move the United States Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. In appealing for the support of Jewish voters in the New York and Connecticut Democratic Presidential primaries, the Colorado Senator told the group, the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, that he had been more consistent in his support of Israel than had been his principal rival, former Vice President Walter F. Mondale. But Mr. Mondale, arriving in New York last night, accused Mr. Hart of inconsistency on both the embassy question and arms control. He has said he would immediately move the embassy to Jerusalem if he became President. (Page D16.)

The Defense Department, in a rare censure of a major military contractor, has notified the Ford Aerospace and Communications Corporation that the company's performance in building a $4.2 billion weapons system has been ''totally unacceptable.'' The criticism, in the form of a seldom-used ''cure-notice'' sent by the Army last month to Ford Aerospace, cites delays in virtually every aspect of the Sergeant York antiaircraft gun program, including delivery of test equipment, training materials and the gun hardware itself. The letter was made available by the Project on Military Procurement, a nonprofit organization here that is usually critical of Pentagon weapons purchasing. Other Pentagon Programs A spokesman for Ford Aerospace said today that the company would work with the Pentagon to correct whatever problems were perceived by the Army. The company, a unit of the Ford Motor Company, also produces the Sidewinder air-to-air missile and the Chaparral air defense missile.