June 21, 1984

The Sports People column on Tuesday incorrectly described B. J. Surhoff's status with the United States Olympic baseball team. Unlike the six other players listed with him, he has not been dropped. He has returned to the University of North Carolina to complete his summer- school requirements and is due to rejoin the team Saturday.

IT used to be simple economic common sense that making major renovations in a rental apartment was a waste of time and money. Savvy homeowners felt that it only made sense to custom-design a space if you owned the apartment. Today, however, some apartment dwellers in New York are reconsidering that rule. As the cost of a co-op or condominium has risen, more people are feeling reluctant to tie up large sums in the purchase price of an apartment. Renters in luxury buildings who have found shortcomings in their apartments or those who have chosen to change the design of old-fashioned spaces have been willing to invest considerable sums of money to get the design they feel will work best for them. Two apartments, one in a recently completed luxury tower where a major redesign was carried out, the other a less expensive project in an older rent-stabilized building, are examples of different facets of this trend.

When Scientific American magazine ran an advertisement profiling one of its readers six years ago, the headline was remarkably prescient: ''The Citi is banking on John Reed for the future.'' The ad copy itself said that Mr. Reed was convinced that banks ''must assimilate new marketing skills and technology, but he is keenly aware of resistance within the traditional banking community'' - a resistance he suggested reflected ''the genetic makeup of bankers.'' Yesterday's announcement that John Shepard Reed, 45 years old, would succeed Walter B. Wriston as chairman and chief executive of Citicorp on Sept. 1 was evidence that the board of directors of the world's largest banking organization - parent of Citibank - bought his arguments. For more than anything, the trait that typifies John Reed is that he is cut from a different cloth than the stereotypical banking executive. For one thing, he is steeped in technology rather than finance. For another, he is, above all, a manager, one who stresses productivity and efficiency and would be as much at home running a steel mill as he is in the business of moving money.

When Chancellor Helmut Kohl of West Germany reached London for the recent economic summit meeting, the question he was asked most often had little to do with East-West ties, the world debt situation or the future of American interest rates. What puzzled his colleagues, the conservative Christian Democrat told reporters on his return last week, was why the Germans, millions of whom have been unable to find work, are locked in a six-week strike for the right to work less. The bitter dispute over labor's demand to cut the workweek from 40 hours, to 35, has become Germany's most protracted strike since 1957. About 444,000 workers have been turned out in the big printing and metalworking industries, including such powerful sectors as automobile and machine manufacturing.

THURSDAY, JUNE 21, 1984 The Economy The gross national product is growing at a 5.7 percent annual rate in the second quarter, the Commerce Department estimated. That is considerably faster than expected, though down from the torrid pace of the first quarter. Its growth was revised upward to 9.7 percent. The Administration was cheered by the report, but financial markets worried that the Federal Reserve might act soon to slow the economy by raising interest rates. (Page A1.) The O.E.C.D. forecast considerably slower growth in the United States next year, citing its budget deficit and high interest rates. (D7.)