June 30, 1986

If you buy, sell or carry drugs on the streets of New York, the odds are overwhelmingly in your favor that you will not go to prison, even if you are arrested. Two out of three people arrested on felony charges of sale or possession of substantial amounts of narcotics in the city last year were not indicted, according to the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services. In Manhattan three out of four people convicted of misdemeanors - for selling or possessing small quantities of drugs - got no jail time beyond that served between arrest and arraignment, according to a recent study by the Manhattan District Attorney's office. System Called Overloaded While citizens have been calling for more police as a solution to the drug epidemic, many working in the criminal justice system say the system itself is so overloaded, underfinanced and inefficient that more low-level arrests could move the system further toward paralysis. Prosecutors and judges say the sheer number of arrests and a shortage of Criminal Court judges and courtrooms lie at the center of the problem. In Manhattan alone last year, 84,564 misdemeanor cases of all kinds were filed with the court, where on any given day a third of the judges are occupied with arraignments and only six are available for trials.

International Moscow proposed a July meeting in Geneva between American and Soviet officials to discuss President Reagan's decision not to abide by the strategic arms agreement of 1979, Administration officials said. They said no decision had been made on how to respond to the Soviet proposal and that there was disagreement in the Administration about what it signfied. [ Page A1, Column 6. ] Poland's leader held out the prospect of limited amnesty for political prisoners as he opened the first congress of the Polish Communist Party since the time of the Solidarity union upheavals. Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski, wearing civilian clothes and speaking as the Soviet leader, Mikhail S. Gorbachev, sat nearby, sought to stress in a three-hour speech that the Solidarity era had ended. [ A1:3. ] Thousands of armed Zulus were permitted by the South African authorities, who seem to favor some black factions over others, to crowd a sports stadium in Soweto in support of a rally by the Zulu leader, Chief Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi. The gathering was depicted as a prayer meeting for peace, but most of those who attended carried traditional Zulu weapons. In a speech, Chief Buthelezi expressed concern about ''the high toll of deaths of blacks at the hands of blacks.'' [ A1:4. ] National The new reality of U.S. immigration was represented by the arrival in Los Angeles last week of a young woman from Philippines who was coming to join her Korean-American husband in Garden Grove in Orange County, a California suburb, already full of the sights, sounds and smells of the Far East.

''If we do not do something about the high toll of deaths of blacks at the hands of blacks, we are on the verge of a civil war situation which will never be stopped, even if liberation is achieved tomorrow.'' - Chief Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi, addressing a Zulu rally. [ A1:5. ]

Coleman Genn had a dream: what Cornell University was for Ithaca, N.Y., his high school would become for East Harlem. If a center of learning could enhance a quiet upstate town, so, the principal reasoned, could a school of excellence help mend an area beset by drugs and dropouts. Yesterday, only four years later, what many considered the impossible dream had become a reality. At the first graduation of the Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics, the lofty name chosen by Mr. Genn when he inherited what was considered one of the city's worst schools, he could boast there had been only one dropout, and everyone else was headed for colleges, including Yale, Amherst, M.I.T. and Hunter.

An article yesterday about the marriage of Polly Bennett and Clifton Truman Daniel misidentified the clergyman who performed the ceremony. It was performed by the Rev. Robert D. Cook, rector of St. James Episcopal Church in Wilmington, N.C. He was assisted by the Rev. Thomas J. Brady of St. Clement's Church in Harvey, Ill.

The Soviet Union has proposed that American and Soviet officials meet in Geneva next month to discuss President Reagan's decision not to abide by the strategic arms agreement of 1979, Administration officials said today. American officials said that no decision had been made on how to respond to the Soviet proposal and that Administration officials disagreed about what it signified. They said it would be discussed this week. Some senior officials favor a positive response, but Defense Department officials have reportedly criticized the idea of such a meeting.

Investigators alerted hospitals, posted stakeouts at transportation hubs, canvassed homes and questioned witnesses yesterday in a hunt for a wounded, safari-jacketed man who killed a 22-year-old rookie police officer in an alleyway gun battle in a Queens beach community. After a day of intensive inquiry, the police last night identified a 32-year-old Jamaican, Robert Roulston, as the fugitive being sought in the murder of Officer Scott Gadell, who was shot Saturday afternoon behind a rooming house at 30-15 Seagirt Boulevard, two blocks off the Atlantic beachfront in Far Rockaway. The suspect, known by the street-name ''Darvy,'' came to the United States in 1983, has had a series of aliases and addresses and was last arrested in Brooklyn on Dec. 14, 1984, on charges of robbery, burglary, possession of a gun and unlawful imprisonment, the police said. Details of that arrest and the outcome of the case were not known last night.

Pacific Stereo was once the world's largest retailer of brand-name stereo equipment, relying on innovative advertising, savvy sales techniques and in-store service to stay ahead. Last month, however, Pacific filed for Chapter 11 protection from its creditors, a victim of fierce competition and its own failure to meet shifting demands in the consumer electronics market. In a petition filed in Federal Bankruptcy Court in Oakland, Calif., Pacific said it owed $36.8 million to 5,098 creditors - including the Sony Corporation, Marantz Inc. and Pioneer Electronics - and had assets of just $21.6 million. Last week, U.S. Electronics Group Inc., a chain of 30 stereo and video stores based in Aurora, Colo., agreed to acquire Pacific. A Pacific spokesman said the Colorado company would continue to operate 40 to 50 Pacific stores in Washington and California, closing down the rest of the 64-store chain. At one time Pacific had 96 stores across the country.

In a game that was billed as a battle of continents, Argentina edged West Germany, 3-2, to win the World Cup today and set off a wild celebration among South American and Mexican soccer fans at Aztec Stadium. Argentina took a 2-0 lead, getting goals by Jose Luis Brown in the 22d minute and by Jorge Alberto Valdano in the 56th. But the West Germans rallied and tied the game on goals by Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in the 74th minute and by Rudi Voeller in the 81st before Jorge Luis Burruchaga gave Argentina the victory in the 84th minute. It was the second World Cup for Argentina, which captured the coveted trophy when it was host of the tournament in 1978. For West Germany, winner of the tournament in 1954 and 1974, the loss was its second consecutive failure in the final. It also kept alive the tradition that American teams win in the Americas, and Europeans in Europe.

Before the strike, they had celebrated one another's marriages, watched one another's children, mourned one another's dead. But now friends have become enemies here, and relatives have turned rivals. ''My cousin crossed the picket line,'' said Kay Cornell, the wife of a striking zinc miner. ''He's not my relative anymore.''

Joan and Bassam Omary stopped by a real estate auction at the Hotel Pierre Wednesday to see what a block of apartments on Central Park South would sell for. When no one else made an offer for an elegant five-room unit in a prewar limestone building, 11 floors up with a magnificent park view, Mr. Omary raised his hand. ''Two hundred thousand,'' he said, hesitantly. ''I can't sell it for that,'' the auctioneer said. ''Any other interest?''

The Economy The Fed may have to cut the discount rate soon, a growing number of economists say, even if the Japanese and West Germans do not go along with cuts of their own. The Fed is facing increasing political pressure to bolster the weak economy in an election year, the economists note. [ Page D1. ]