November 17, 1985

PRESIDENT Reagan flew to Geneva yesterday for what he called ''a mission of peace,'' his first meeting with Mikhail S. Gorbachev, the Soviet leader. As the first Soviet-American summit meeting in more than six years approached, each side sought to position itself in the most favorable light. Proposals and counterproposals to reduce nuclear arsenals are on the table for the talks Tuesday and Wednesday. One of the biggest stumbling blocks was Moscow's opposition to Mr. Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative. Left behind in Washington, Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger urged the President in a letter not to yield on space defense, asserting that Soviet violations of past treaties had put ''us in a particularly vulnerable and dangerous position.'' An unidentified official reportedly called the release of the letter by the Pentagon an attempt to ''sabotage'' the summit meeting and Larry Speakes, White House spokesman, indicated the President was displeased.

Thousands of people, fearing another volcanic eruption, today fled several towns in the area where an avalanche of mud earlier this week buried an entire town. Late this afternoon the Government said there had been new eruptions of the 16,200-foot-high volcano, Nevado del Ruiz. But after several hours, the Government said that the eruptions had been minor and that there was no need for people to leave their homes. A short time before, the Government had ordered the evacuation of more than 200,000 people who live along five rivers in the area. Many Flee From Houses Many people streamed out of houses and stores after hearing radio reports of renewed volcanic activity.

FOR the first time in 14 years, the exodus from central Pennsylvania last December consisted of nothing more than trips home for the holidays. There was no excuse for people dressed in blue and white to parade in and out of the establishments in the French Quarter of New Orleans. There was no reason to hope for warm weather in Miami or Tempe, Ariz., or shiver in Dallas; not even a return to Honolulu or Jacksonville or Memphis. ''Fortunately,'' Joe Paterno said, ''we didn't have a bowl game to go to. Which was good.'' A different view might come from the followers of the Penn State Nittany Lions who have grown accustomed to welcoming the new year as the anticipation of an important bowl game ties their stomachs in knots. But Paterno had more important things to consider at the end of last season. Not far from its end, he had felt that his staff had done its finest job in his 19 years as the head coach, and then, within eight days, the feeling, the season and the team had come apart.

Is there such a thing as Jewish art? In his pioneering study, ''Jewish Experience in the Art of the 20th Century,'' Avram Kampf indicates that this charged question has been around since the end of the 19th century. ''In the West the notion of Jewish art arose largely from the need of the Jewish minority to affirm a distinct cultural identity.'' In Russia, Mr. Kampf writes, the ''quest for a Jewish secular art was inseparable from the quest for political emancipation and cultural autonomy.''

Undefeated and underappreciated Penn State did not seem offended by the criticism that it had no business sitting on top of the college football rankings. The criticism did not push the Nittany Lions this week. Their memories did. At the juncture where last year's team suffered the first of two humiliating losses, the Nittany Lions defeated Notre Dame today, 36-6, in rainy, muddy Beaver Stadium. The Lions, 10-0 for the first time since 1978, scored on eight of their first nine possessions - including five field goals by Massimo Manca - to give Notre Dame its worst defeat in Gerry Faust's five troubled seasons as coach.