What was going on when I was born?

International American pressure to remove the Philippines' Chief of Staff, Gen. Fabian C. Ver, contributed to a factional dispute that is hampering the work of the military, President Ferdinand E. Marcos said. Mr. Marcos, who despite this pressure reinstated General Ver after his acquittal on charges of involvement in the slaying of Benigno S. Aquino Jr., said in an interview that he expected the general to be removed from his post soon. [Page A1, Column 2.] A statewide election in Assam that brought out large numbers of voters was seen as a crucial test for Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's political control over the state. Tens of thousands of policemen and paramilitary troops kept watch. [A3:4.]

Because of an editing error, the Sky Watch map in late editions on Sunday mislabeled the path to be followed by the Moon later this week. The path is that of the summer solstice sun.

PSYCHOTHERAPY, after a century of existence, has splintered into factions so diverse that there is little agreement on exactly what psychotherapy is, how it should proceed or what it should accomplish. And despite the best of ecumenical efforts, the deep divisions seem to be getting even deeper. Those rifts were apparent at a landmark conference last week in Phoenix at which most of the great living therapists gathered to discuss their craft. Salvador Minuchin, one of the major figures in family therapy, said: ''We each have our fiefdoms, the boundaries determined by the beliefs we share. Information does not cross those boundaries very easily. We almost never get together so many therapists of differing views.''

Investigators were focusing increasing attention yesterday on the possibility that the the crash of a chartered airliner in Newfoundland last week was caused by a reversal of power in one of the engines. This would be consistent with the sudden veering and speed loss that Canadian officials said the plane had experienced just before it plunged to the ground. But other possible causes of the crash are still being investigated. Canadian investigators said the Arrow Air DC-8 had reached a speed sufficient for a proper takeoff before it decelerated and crashed. Pending a full investigation of the cause of the crash, the Defense Department is continuing to charter troop and cargo planes from Arrow Air, the Pentagon said. [Page B8.] Thrust Reverser Deployed According to officials close to the inquiry, an examination of the wreckage showed that the right outboard engine's thrust reverser, which helps to slow a plane on landing, was in the deployed position. The reversers on the jet's three other engines were properly stowed, the officials said.

In a new policy ordered by Mayor Koch, homeless families seeking emergency housing will be sent to dormitory-like shelters, not welfare hotels, unless the shelters are full. Mr. Koch said the hotel rooms have been acting as a magnet, drawing families who had previously doubled up with friends or relatives or who had been living in substandard housing. He said that because the homeless families sheltered in hotels were given priority on the city's permanent housing list, families have been trying to get into the hotels to better their place on that list. 'Whenever We Can' ''Our plan is to limit the use of the hotels so people won't feel that getting into a hotel is better than what housing they have,'' he said.

Nearly 500 protesters, some dressed as skeletons, some as Santa Claus, staged sit-ins at retail stores across the country this weekend, handing printed cards to customers who were wearing furs. ''Enjoy your coat,'' the message read. ''Its real owner was killed in it.'' Nearby, representatives of the American Fur Industry defended the role of the $1.6 billion fur industry in the economy and the environment. ''If animals aren't trapped they fall victim to overpopulation, starvation and disease,'' said Sandy Blye, the trade group's executive director, providing counterpoint at a protest at Macy's in New York.

The Economy President Reagan has rounded up enough votes to assure passage of tax revision in the House, Administration officials and House Republican leaders said. Their announcement came hours after the President made an extraordinary personal appeal to Republican lawmakers. [Page A1.] The Synthetic Fuels Corporation was effectively killed by a vote of Congressional conferees. It was a victim of falling world oil prices, high interest rates, poor administration, the recession and the drive to reduce swelling Federal budget deficits. [B11.]

The James River Corporation, in a move that would make it the nation's fourth-largest paper company, said yesterday that it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire nearly all of a scaled-down Crown Zellerbach Corporation. Analysts and sources close to the company said the value of the stock swap could be nearly $800 million. The agreement was approved by both company boards. At the same time, as part of the deal, Sir James Goldsmith, the British financier, would acquire three businesses spun off from Crown Zellerbach: its timberlands and wood products operations, the container business and the Eczel Corporation, which is a distributor of supplies for small computers.

The Union Carbide Corporation's plan to defend itself from a takeover through a repurchase of its own shares sent the stock price higher today. The stock rose 75 cents, to $70.50, after trading as high as $71.75. It was the most heavily traded issue on the New York Stock Exchange. The rise, analysts said, reflected not only the premium that the company would offer for the shares but also the chance that the GAF Corporation might raise its $68-a-share tender offer.

Paul Castellano, the reputed leader of the nation's largest and most powerful crime organization, and an underworld associate were shot to death late yesterday afternoon by three assassins on a busy street on Manhattan's East Side. As Mr. Castellano and his associate, Thomas Bilotti, stepped out of a limousine on East 46th Street near Third Avenue shortly before 5:30 P.M., the police said, the three men approached, drew semi-automatic weapons from under their trenchcoats and opened up a barrage of gunfire at close range. Mr. Castellano and Mr. Bilotti were each shot about six times in the head and upper body and fell dead beside the open doors of their black Lincoln limousine, which had been parked moments before on the south side of 46th Street in a ''no standing'' zone. Fled in Waiting Car After the shooting, witnesses said, the gunmen fled on foot east to the corner of Second Avenue, where they jumped into a waiting dark car that sped south on the avenue and disappeared, leaving behind a grisly tableau of underworld murder.

RESTORATION of the Statue of Liberty has reached the halfway mark, and engineers are convinced they have solved the major problems they faced when they began the project. They have replaced the corroded flame and torch, patched the tip of Liberty's nose and cleaned the weather-beaten exterior. More important, however, they have corrected the defects in the statue's supporting structure that led to its deterioration. ''We found it wasn't just a matter of cosmetics,'' said Edward Cohen, a managing partner of Ammann and Whitney, the consulting engineers for the restoration project. ''We just couldn't buy her a new dress and dab on some new makeup. We had to fix her internal problems.''

For Patrick Anthony, a 17-year-old honors student in one of the most rural and impoverished counties in the state, the logic of calculus comes easily. So easily that the 12th grader muttered the other day in his advanced class that the teacher had assigned an eighth grade problem. But if it were not for a conference call telephone connection and classroom computers that link him to a teacher 50 miles away, Patrick and 12 other talented students in isolated communities in central New York State would not be able to take such advanced courses, or they would have to travel long distances to attend a school that does offer them. The experimental course, which is taught by a mathematics professor at Colgate University, enables the high school here and those in four other rural districts to fulfill a state requirement that advanced placement courses be offered. Those school districts that are too small to be able to afford the courses must consolidate with other districts.