November 12, 1983

Sarah Torres says that ''they're an outrage''; Allie Regner thinks they're ''kind of fun''; Steve Saltiel calls them ''really stupid,'' and Wilmer Cintron says they're merely ''dumb.'' News that the city will place large vinyl decals depicting shutters, potted plants, Venetian blinds and window shades over the yawning windows of abandoned city-owned buildings that face the Cross Bronx Expressway has been the talk of the neighborhoods along this corridor in the Bronx this week. Residents of the Crotona Park neighborhood suggested that while the city was at it, why not expand the program to provide designer clothing decals to place over the tattered apparel of impoverished residents, large Mercedes-Benz decals to strap to their sides and decals of strip sirloins for them to eat. ''They should fix up the buildings,'' said Mr. Cintron, ''and have people living here, not decals.'' Decals are all the city can afford, said city officials, who explained that Federal ''deep funding'' programs for housing have been shut off and that there is no money for rehabilitation and not enough even to demolish most of the buildings.

House and Senate negotiators agreed today on a catch-all spending bill that is needed to keep parts of the Federal Government operating through Sept. 30. The compromise bill included an additional $100 million for education programs promoted by House Democrats, far below their original proposal of almost $1 billion. The White House had threatened to veto the bill if it included sizable amounts for extra domestic spending, but Senator Mark O. Hatfield, the Oregon Republican who is chairman of the Appropriations Committee, expressed confidence today that President Reagan would sign the bill. The compromise clears away one of the major obstacles Congress must overcome as it tries to meet its goal of adjourning next Friday. However, the Senate remains snarled in a bitter dispute over a bill raising the national debt ceiling, and a resolution of that issue is still far away.

In a significant shift, private universities that once focused their student aid on scholarships for the poor are now including aid programs for middle-income, upper-middle-income and even wealthy students. The new efforts range from sophisticated advice on financial planning to ''prepayment'' plans in which students who put down four years of tuition their freshman year are protected against tuition increases. Most involve use of tax laws to reduce the overall cost of a college education. In the last few years many colleges around the country have taken isolated steps to attract middle-income and upper-income students, from subsidized loan programs to the growing number of scholarships awarded on the basis of academic achievement rather than financial need. What is new is that such programs are not only becoming much more plentiful and complex but, in some cases, are also becoming the foundation on which entire financial aid programs are being built, both economically and philosophically.

Excerpts from speech, page 6. SEOUL, South Korea, Saturday, Nov. 12 - President Reagan arrived in this tense nation today with a message denouncing North Korea and encouraging South Korea to pursue democratic change as the ''foundation of true security.'' ''Let every aggressor hear our words because Americans and Koreans speak with one voice,'' Mr. Reagan said in a speech to Parliament. ''People who are free will not be slaves, and freedom will not be lost in the Republic of Korea.''

The leaders of this predominantly Sunni Moslem city were divided today over whether Yasir Arafat, the chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization, should leave Tripoli and eliminate the threat of heavy fighting here. Mayor Ashir Daye and some other local leaders said they wanted Mr. Arafat to go, and on Thursday a similar appeal was issued by Rashid Karami, a Moslem politician and former Prime Minister. But Sheik Saed Shaaban, a Moslem cleric who controls most of the city with a militia of 600 men, said Mr. Arafat should stay as long as he likes. Day of Little Fighting Tripoli and the surrounding area were mainly quiet today in the third day of a cease-fire between Syrian- backed Palestinian rebels and Arafat loyalists, although some artillery shell explosions and small-arms fire could be heard from the nearby Palestinian refugee camp of Beddawi, Mr. Arafat's last stronghold in Lebanon. The leaders of Tripoli have been extremely cautious in what they say to or about Mr. Arafat because, they say privately, they fear reprisals from his followers. There is no central authority in Tripoli. The police do not venture into several areas, and the gun is the arbiter in many matters.