June 8, 1982

Speaking before the city's Rent Guidelines Board, a parade of politicians and tenant advocates sharply condemned yesterday requests by owners of rent-stabilized apartments for monthly rent increases of 12 to 30 percent for leases during the year starting Oct. 1. They urged the board instead to set rent increases for leases beginning in this period at 2, 4 and 6 percent for one- , two- and three-year leases. City Councilwoman Carol Greitzer said the landlord group, the Rent Stabilization Association, was seeking ''ludicrous amounts that have been arrived at by sleight-of-hand figures.'' The owners proposed the increases Sunday.

An article Sunday about a primary contest for the House of Representa- tives in Ohio incorrectlydescribed the status of Representative Dennis E. Eckart, Democrat of Ohio. He is a candidate for re-election this year in a district adjacent to the one he has rep- resented.

The American Telephone and Telegraph Company and its affiliated local companies last year paid nearly $3.5 million in fees to professors and other consultants for academic services and, in some cases, for providing testimony favorable to Bell before Congressional panels and Federal courts, according to an industry study published today. The practice of contracting for the services of economists and others and of using their expert testimony before Congress is a common one. Congressmen and regulators, furthermore, recognize that such experts who testify on behalf of companies are often paid by the companies to do so. But A.T.& T. spends more on such activity than any other company in the telecommunications industry, the Federal Communications Commission says. It comes close to cornering the market on academic experts in telecommunications, according to a newsletter published by the North American Telephone Association, a trade organization representing the telephone-equipment industry.

The Reagan Administration has cut off funds to the National Academy of Sciences for research into the controversial question of acid rain. As a result, the Administration is being accused of allowing its politics to interfere with important scientific inquiry. The Administration denies those accusations. But it is clear, from interviews, public statements and events of the last several months, that strains and distrust have developed between the Administration and the Academy.

Wall Street apparently took a dim view yesterday of the Mesa Petroleum Company's hostile takeover bid for the Cities Service Company. Shares of Cities Service fell 1 3/4, to 36 1/4, in heavy trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares of Mesa, which is facing a competing takeover bid from Cities Service, edged up 1/8, to 18 3/4, also in heavy trading. In a widely anticipated move, Mesa went directly to Cities Service stockholders yesterday with an offer to pay $45 a share for 15 percent of the company, which would total $555 million in cash.