LEAD: Several of Wall Street's biggest firms have been limiting the amount of business they do with Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. in the commodities markets, according to Drexel and other sources.

SOME FIRMS SAID TO AVOID DREXEL

LEAD: More than 400 Soviet Jews have so far received permission to emigrate in March, the highest monthly figure since the end of 1981, Western diplomats and Soviet officials said today.

SOVIET EMIGRATION OF JEWS IS HIGHEST IN LAST FIVE YEARS

BUSINESS DIGEST: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 1987

LEAD: After recently placing a lowly 14th in the latest ''serious crime'' ranking by the F.B.I. of the country's 25 biggest cities, New York suffered yet another damaging blow to its image yesterday, showing up a measly 12th on a list of America's most roach-infested cities.

About New York; Falling Behind On the Latest List Of Urban Plagues

LEAD: The Manhattan District Attorney subpoenaed the personnel records of all 18 members of the State Legislature from Manhattan today.

DATA ON MANHATTAN LEGISLATORS' STAFF SUBPOENAED

LEAD: South Africa and its creditor banks have reached agreement on the repayment of the $13 billion in debt on which Pretoria halted payments in 1985, the Government announced today.

PRETORIA REACHES PACT ON DEBT IT FROZE IN '85

LEAD: The Koch administration announced plans yesterday to build a jail on Staten Island for as many as 4,000 inmates, after striking a deal with the Borough President to reduce the proposed number of shelters for the homeless there.

S.I. CHIEF AGREES TO A NEW 4,000-INMATE CITY JAIL

LEAD: Wall Street has long been home to brokers and investors from all nations. But no single country is moving faster to add to its presence in America's financial capital than Japan.

JAPANESE THRUST IN WALL ST.

LEAD: The Immigration and Naturalization Service said today that it had proposed, in effect, to allow illegal aliens to work in this country through Sept. 1.

U.S. MODIFIES RULES ON WORKER STATUS OF ILLEGAL ALIENS

LEAD: Not since Holly Golightly has Tiffany's seemed so special.

TIFFANY'S NEXT SALE: ITS STOCK

LEAD: Congressional investigators have clear indications that William J. Casey, the former Director of Central Intelligence, masterminded the Reagan Administration's efforts to help the Nicaraguan rebels get military supplies, according to two Senators and a Representative.

CASEY IS TERMED THE MASTERMIND OF EFFORTS TO SUPPLY THE CONTRAS

LEAD: IT used to be that when Americans thought of Australia - if they thought of Australia -they conjured up the image of a koala bear, a kangaroo or a tennis player. Not anymore.

Going Mad For Things Australian

LEAD: NEW YORK CITY boasts a healthy crop of strictly vegetarian restaurants, not-so-strict ones and every kind of hybrid. Moreover, conventional restaurants now offer enticing vegetable dishes as the demand grows for light and healthful fare, particularly among the younger generation of executive lunchers.

Vegetarianism: Green-Plate Specials Abound

LEAD: Dollar Is Propped Up  The Federal Reserve and other central banks took action to support the dollar, traders said, though the currency stayed below 150 yen. Page D1.

INSIDE

LEAD: The New York State Board of Regents yesterday elected Dr. Thomas Sobol, the Superintendent of Schools in Scarsdale, N.Y., as the new State Commissioner of Education.

ALBANY REGENTS APPOINT A CHIEF FOR EDUCATION

LEAD: Nothing about the last morning of Nicholas A. Bartlett's life would seem to have been anything but routine.

QUESTIONS IN THE DEATH OF A HARLEM VENDOR

LEAD: The New York City Fire Department yesterday established a special board of inquiry to investigate the garbage-chute fire that killed seven people in a Harlem high-rise building Sunday, and fire officials will also start reinspecting the hundreds of buildings in the city with similar chutes and sprinkler systems.

INQUIRY BOARD SET UP IN FIRE THAT KILLED 7

LEAD: The Federal Reserve and other central banks intervened in the currency markets yesterday to shore up the dollar and halted its slide, although the dollar remained below the important 150-yen level, currency traders said.

DOLLAR ENDS FALL AS FED INTERVENES

LEAD: A 17-year-old girl and the classmate she hired to kill her father because, she said, he sexually abused her pleaded guilty today to manslaughter.

GUILTY PLEA IN KILLING OF FATHER

LEAD: The Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 today that states may prevent companies from conducting federally approved mining activities on federally owned forestland unless the companies comply with reasonable state environmental regulations.

HIGH COURT SUPPORTS STATES ON REGULATING MINES ON U.S. LAND

LEAD: Marvin Davis, the Denver oil billionaire, made a complex and unexpected $200 million proposal yesterday to purchase Resorts International Inc., the casino and real estate company.

Article 971487 -- No Title

LEAD: The Canadian Government has approved resuming large-scale seal hunting from ships off the country's east coast, prompting an outcry from animal welfare groups whose protests virtually ended seal hunting as a major industry in the region four years ago.

CANADA ALLOWS RESUMPTION OF SEAL HUNTING FROM SHIPS

LEAD: Contrary to what most vegetarians think, the best meatless meal is prepared by the best chef you can find, not necessarily by a vegetarian chef. I learned this firsthand.

Vegetarianism: Cook's Tour Tests Chefs

LEAD: New York's highest court overturned today a 24-year-old assault conviction against a man awaiting execution in Mississippi. The ruling cleared the way for new legal efforts to block the execution.

SHIFT IN '63 CASE MAY HELP AVERT A DEATH PENALTY

LEAD: The GF Corporation, a maker of steel and wood office furniture said yesterday that it had named Richard D. Major as president and chief operating officer.

Chief Operating Post Is Filled by GF Corp.

Jacob Bagersted is a Danish handballer, currently playing for Danish side SønderjyskE Håndbold. He has previously played for German sides SC Magdeburg and Frisch Auf Göppingen.

Jacob Bagersted, Danish handball player

Jacob_Bagersted

Victor Nsofor Obinna is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a striker.

Victor Obinna, Nigerian footballer

Victor_Obinna

Nobunari Oda  is a retired Japanese competitive figure skater. He is the 2006 Four Continents champion, a four-time Grand Prix Final medalist, the 2005 World Junior champion and the 2008 Japanese national champion.

Nobunari Oda, Japanese figure skater

Nobunari_Oda

Hyun-jin Ryu is a South Korean professional baseball pitcher for the Hanwha Eagles of the KBO League. He has also played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays.

Hyun-jin Ryu, South Korean baseball player

Hyun-jin_Ryu

Vidya Jyothi Arumugam Wisvalingam Mailvaganam, OBE was a leading Ceylon Tamil physicist, academic and the dean of the Faculty of Science, University of Ceylon.

March 25, 1987

Headlines from March 25, 1987

SOME FIRMS SAID TO AVOID DREXEL

SOVIET EMIGRATION OF JEWS IS HIGHEST IN LAST FIVE YEARS

BUSINESS DIGEST: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 1987

About New York; Falling Behind On the Latest List Of Urban Plagues

DATA ON MANHATTAN LEGISLATORS' STAFF SUBPOENAED

Billboard 200

Licensed To Ill

Slippery When Wet

The Way It Is

Graceland

Invisible Touch

Notable Births

Notable Deaths

Historical Context for March 25, 1987