What was going on when I was born?

A SCIENTIFIC debate has emerged over whether prostitutes are likely to spread AIDS among heterosexuals, a group that has largely been spared by the nation's AIDS epidemic up to now. Many scientists, including New York City's health authorities, say the fear that prostitutes will be a major conduit of acquired immune deficiency syndrome into the heterosexual community is unjustified. They argue that while many American prostitutes are at risk of developing AIDS themselves, there is no evidence they are transmitting AIDS to their patrons and that, more generally, the spread of the AIDS virus from women to men through sexual contact has rarely been documented. Other scientists believe that consorting with prostitutes has already caused some cases of AIDS in men, and that if current trends continue prostitutes could transmit the virus to many men, who in turn will infect their unsuspecting wives and lovers. None of the experts see the AIDS virus coursing through the heterosexual community the way it has among homosexuals and intravenous drug addicts over the last six years. But the outcome of the debate will influence whether authorities single out prostitutes for AIDS-related testing, pursue special campaigns to educate the women and their potential customers about the dangers or contemplate new curbs on prostitution.

The powerful earthquake that killed at least 7,000 people here in September was, in effect, a deadly test in nature's real and very brutal laboratory. And it has yielded important lessons in building design and city planning. Although earthquakes registering 8.0 or more on the Richter scale have struck a few other major metropolitan centers in this century, the Mexico City disaster was the first, scientists and engineers say, to test the modern building technology that is now so widely used in major cities throughout the world. Among the key conclusions drawn from the disaster, which destroyed more than 400 buildings and damaged hundreds more, are that architects, engineers and city planners are going to have to restudy geological formations beneath some cities that might greatly increase the destructive force of an earthquake. Engineers also found that so-called asymmetrical buildings, such as those built in triangular or T shapes, are more likely to collapse in a major earthquake. They determined, too, that having too much open space on lower floors, with much denser conditions on the floors above, caused special problems. Other risk factors included a lack of sufficient reinforcement in concrete support pillars, and buildings being placed too close to each other, because if they struck one another the danger was compounded.

President Reagan has told four Soviet journalists that the United States will not deploy a space defense against enemy missiles until both countries ''do away with our nuclear missiles, our offensive missiles.'' The interview was made public today at the White House, shortly after details of it became public in Moscow. In his comments, Mr. Reagan firmly linked deployment of the ''Star Wars'' space-based missile defense - a deployment that is said to be far in the future - with the phased and gradual elimination of the nuclear arsenals of the United States and the Soviet Union. The Soviet newspaper Izvestia devoted a full page to its version of the interview, but omitted several significant points. It also printed an often strident rebuttal of equal length by the four Soviet interviewers. [Page A7.] A Transition in Stages White House officials insisted, however, that Mr. Reagan was not seeking the elimination of all nuclear weapons before the United States develops the proposed space-defense shield, which has emerged as a cornerstone of Administration military policy.

THE Pentagon is facing rising criticism over the fact that key assessments of the Strategic Defense Initiative, or ''Star Wars,'' are being made by the same private contractors that may reap enormous benefits in building the project. The Defense Department, however, is standing fast, saying the companies likely to build the space-based missile defense are best qualified to evaluate the increasingly complex science and technology. The critics assert that the Reagan Administration's reliance on military contractors for critical studies of the antimissile system's cost and capability could lead to serious conflicts of interest. These objections, voiced chiefly by politicians and scientists who say they oppose President Reagan's five-year, $26 billion missile-defense research project, are similar to those raised over the Administration's policy of allowing individual Federal scientists to sell their Government-sponsored research to industry for their own private gain. The critics maintain that the prospect of financial gain makes objective judgments by contractors almost impossible.

Cluett, Peabody & Company, in a move to elude the takeover endeavors of a California investor group, said yesterday that it had agreed to be acquired by West Point-Pepperell Inc., the giant textile and soft goods manufacturer, in a transaction valued at $375 million. The California group, headed by Paul A. Bilzerian, then withdrew its offer of $40 a share. In a statement, Mr. Bilzerian said he would sell his 23.5 percent of Cluett's eight million shares to West Point-Pepperell. The group headed by Mr. Bilzerian stands to make a profit of about $8 million on the sale of his shares.

The Holland Hotel on West 42d Street, which houses 272 homeless families, has almost 1,000 violations of the health, building and housing codes, city officials said yesterday. Many of the violations stem from chronic maintenance problems, such as leaky plumbing, broken doors and windows, faulty locks, vermin and malfunctioning elevators. However, some are more serious, the officials said, citing missing smoke detectors, lack of heat and hot water, gas leaks and unlawful cooking space. Judith Spektor, the director of the Mayor's Office of Single-Room-Occupancy Housing, which oversees welfare-hotel inspections, said, in response to questions yesterday, that there were 986 violations against the hotel.

The Southland Royalty Company's directors yesterday unanimously rejected a $695 million tender offer made by Burlington Northern Inc. two weeks ago. At the same time, in a determined attempt to ward off Burlington, Southland sweetened the terms of its previously announced plan to reorganize the company into a limited partnership and filed a court action seeking to thwart Burlington's offer. But Southland also said it had instructed Goldman, Sachs & Company to explore the possibility of selling the company to some other suitor if a more lucrative offer than its own plan of reorganization can be found. Southland is a producer of crude oil and natural gas, based in Fort Worth.

The imminent visit of a young British couple, he 36 years old, she 24, has sent a frisson of excitement through Washington unmatched in the memory of old-timers in a city quite accustomed to receiving the glamorous and the celebrated. The Prince and Princess of Wales are not due here until Saturday morning, but already the newspapers, magazines and television networks are outdoing themselves: What is their marriage really like? How much money do they earn for British business? Does she get along with her in-laws? How are they rearing their children? What are their political views, if any? All of which leaves one larger question: Why do Americans care? Washington, it is always said, is a city about power. The royal visitors have next to none and, even when Prince Charles inherits the British throne from Queen Elizabeth II, they will not have a great deal. Not as much as this Supreme Court Justice or that Cabinet member, each of whom would go unnoticed if they ever rode the subway.

Companies Southland Royalty's board rejected a $695 million offer from Burlington Northern. To ward off that bid, Southland also sweetened the distributions under its previously announced plan to reorganize into a limited partnership. However, the company also instructed its investment advisers to explore any more lucrative offers. The Burlington offer was for $17 a share; Southland's stock closed at $39.25, up 25 cents. [D1.] Cluett, Peabody agreed to be taken over by West Point-Pepperell for $375 million. A California group withdrew its bid and said it would tender the 23.5 percent of Cluett shares it had acquired, apparently making an $8 million profit on the transaction. Cluett, will become a subsidiary of West Point Pepperell. [D1.]

Take the A Train MUSIC UNDER NEW YORK, by the Ambrosian Wind Duo; Frances Cabrejos, flute; Joel Willett, bassoon; with about 140 other classical, jazz, rock and folk musicians sponsored by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. AT: Times Square, Grand Central, Columbus Circle and other subterranean hot spots. Times vary. The concerts don't start as promptly as those at Carnegie Hall, and the seats aren't as comfortable, but the musicians are enthusiastic and the ticket price is much lower: 90 cents, transportation included.

The jury in the racketeering trial of the reputed leadership of the Colombo crime organization was told by a prosecutor yesterday that the ''family'' existed only to ''make money the easy way, the illegal way, any illegal way.'' In an opening statement in Federal District Court in Manhattan, the prosecutor, Bruce A. Baird, said the case was about a part of a nationwide Mafia - ''a case about men who call themselves a family, but you're not going to hear about bringing up children, or social or religious activities.'' Defense attorneys, who will continue their opening statements this morning before Judge John F. Keenan, contended that the charges were false and were based on misinterpretations of wiretap evidence. Persico Singled Out Mr. Baird, an assistant United States attorney, presented a list of crimes that he said had been committed by the 11 defendants, including Carmine Persico, who he said had been the leader of the Colombo organization since the early 1970's.

AT the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, students must take achievement tests when they are freshmen and then again when they are seniors. At DePaul University in Chicago, students may be asked to take such tests a number of times in their freshman year. At Kean College of New Jersey in Union, a task force is being created to devise tests to measure students' progress. For many years the public has judged the effectiveness of elementary and high schools by such means as reading tests, standardized college admission tests and other measures of skills. Now the same principles are being tried at the college level as well.