April 7, 1986

Snow Chief continued his methodical march toward the Kentucky Derby with a six-length victory in the $500,000 Santa Anita Derby here today. The mile and one-eighth event took place under cloudy skies before a national television audience. Snow Chief, who had dominated the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park a month ago, had six local rivals, including the highly regarded colts Ferdinand and Variety Road. Snow Chief's time was 1:48 3/5 over a course slightly deadened by rain. Icy Groom, at 11-1, was given a smart ride by Eddie Delahoussaye to finish second, one length ahead of a steadily closing Ferdinand.

American colleges and universities are planning to raise tuition charges next fall by an average of 7 to 8 percent, about the same rate as last year, according to a spot check. The total bill for tuition, room and board at the most expensive private colleges will exceed $16,000. For example, students and their families will pay $16,040 for the coming year at Yale University, $14,580 at Vassar College and $10,230 at Russell Sage College. Both the State University of New York, where New York students pay $1,350, and the City University of New York, which charges $1,225, will hold the line on tuition. Announced tuition increases range from 6 percent at Clarkson University in Potsdam, N.Y., to the 13 percent rise that New York University will impose on entering freshmen as part of a multi-year plan to raise its schedule of charges.

The International Minerals and Chemical Corporation has long boasted of being the biggest and most profitable fertilizer company in the world. Now, with the farm economy hitting its lowest point since the Depression, the company is counting on its size and savvy to help it survive. With a new Federal program to reduce the number of acres under cultivation, demand for the three basic fertilizers - potash, phosphate and nitrogen - is expected to drop 7.6 percent in 1986, to 20.04 million tons. Demand is already off 15 percent from 1980, the industry's best year. And fertilizer prices, down between 20 and 40 percent since 1981, will fall another 10 percent this year, according to I.M.C. officials. Belt tightening, price cuts and a more favorable long-term outlook have hardly helped most fertilizer companies. Five large fertilizer producers in the United States, including AMAX Inc., have sold their unprofitable potash operations in the last 18 months, while two phosphate producers - Beker Industries and Gardinier Inc. - have filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the Federal bankruptcy code.

The West German Government appointed a panel today to evaluate the possibility that foreign governments had some involvement in a bombing at a discotheque here that killed an American soldier and a Turkish woman. A Foreign Ministry statement issued in Bonn said the action was taken in reaction to reports of possible Libyan involvement in the attack early Saturday at the club, which was frequented by United States soldiers. French Expulsion of Libyans Bonn's decision was made a day after France announced it was expelling two Libyan diplomats who it said were in touch with people believed to be planning attacks against American targets. In another sign that France is willing to take firmer action to combat terrorism, President Francois Mitterrand last week reversed his opposition to closer coordination of intelligence exchanges with allied governments.

Countries that do not protect American copyrights, trademarks and patents could be denied tariff concessions by the United States, while American laws would be stiffened to prevent sales of pirated or counterfeit goods here under new Reagan Administration proposals to be announced this week. ''The United States provides strong protection for intellectual property rights within our borders for domestic and foreign citizens and businesses,'' a Presidential policy statement said. ''We expect other nations to do the same in the interest of stimulating increased innovation and improving living standards throughout the world.'' The new program, documents from which have been circulated on a restricted basis and were obtained by The New York Times, envisages domestic legislative initiatives as well as multilateral and bilateral trade-linked actions.