March 23, 1981

The number of housing units in the United States increased at a rate more than double that of the population from 1970 to 1980, reflecting an accelerating trend toward fewer persons in each household, the Census Bureau reports. There was a net gain of almost 20 million housing units in the decade, a rise of 28 percent, while the nation's population rose 11.4 percent, to 226.5 million from 203.3 million. Preliminary figures from the April 1980 census reported 88,277,345 housing units, as against 68,704,320 in April 1970, an increase that many authorities considered unlikely at the beginning of the decade. Large Gains in West and Florida The Rocky Mountain states, Alaska and Florida experienced the highest rates in housing growth. Nevada led the nation, with a 96.8 percent increase, for a 1980 total of 340,000 housing units in the state; Arizona was up by 90 percent, to 1.1 million units; Alaska climbed 79 percent, to 162,400 units, and Florida was up by 72 percent, to 4.4 million units.

With Durand Macklin, their captain and leading scorer, in the locker room with an injured finger for most of the second half, Louisiana State maintained a large lead and beat Wichita State, 96-85, today in the Midwest regional final to earn a place in the Final Four of the National Collegiate Athletic Association basketball tournament. The left-handed Macklin, who scored 17 of his 21 points in the first half when the Tigers overwhelmed the Shockers, suffered a dislocated finger and required three stiches in his right hand. He sat out 12 minutes of the second half, first with leg cramps and then with the finger injury, but expected to be fit to play next weekend in Philadelphia. According to Dale Brown, coach of the 31-3 Tigers, the L.S.U. squad set five goals at a team meeting early in the season: to better last year's 26-6 record, to win the Southeast Conference title, to receive an N.C.A.A. bid, to make the Final Four and to win a national championship.

DENVER THE Mount Evans Hill Climb is an arduous 28-mile bicycle race that ends on the highest paved road in the United States - 14,264 feet above sea level. Bob Cook holds the record for the race: one hour 54 minutes 27 seconds. He won it the last six times, a feat easily comparable to the three consecutive Boston Marathons won by Bill Rodgers. A member of the 1980 United States Olympic cycling team, Cook will not defend his Hill Climb crown July 11. He died March 11 at the age of 23, having suffered the effects of brain tumors for three months. Ellen Cook said she never told her son that there was no hope after doctors diagnosed his problem as metastatic melanoma. ''Bob tried to hide the pain,'' said John Beveridge, an alfalfa and bean sprouts grower who sponsored Cook's racing team. ''I visited one day and asked him to do something. He was in bed and said, 'I'll have to think about that John.' And then he pulled the covers over his head and said, 'I do my best thinking under here.' In fact, I think he pulled up the covers because he was grimacing to hide pain.''

Six years after the Vietnam War, the Government's principal study of the war's effect on the lives of Vietnam combat veterans has concluded that they are plagued by ''significantly more'' emotional, social, educational and job-related problems than those who were not in battle. The study, a $2 million, eight-year investigation conducted by a New York-based research team for the Veterans Administration, confirmed the findings of earlier inquiries suggesting that exposure to combat had a direct relationship to current abuse of alcohol and drugs as well as to arrests, medical troubles and stress-related emotional problems. Veterans who are black or members of other minority groups were found to be strikingly disadvantaged in postwar schooling, careers and earning power, and with most veterans now in their mid-30's, the study concluded that most career setbacks may be irrevocable. Many Found to Be Strengthened It also found, however, that many veterans had been strengthened by their Vietnam experiences and were inclined to ''work through'' rather than suppress difficult problems. A total of 2.8 million Americans are veterans of the war in Vietnam, which began in the early 1960's and ended in April 1975, with the capture of Saigon by Communist forces.

''The idea that's been established over the last 10 years, that almost in life ought to be provided, financed by the Government as a matter of basic right, is wrong.