LEAD: President Vaclav Havel of Czechoslovakia told a joint meeting of Congress today that the best way the United States could aid his country and the rest of Eastern Europe in their quest for freedom was by helping the Soviet Union navigate the ''immensely complicated'' road to democracy.

  Havel's 'Paradoxical' Plea: Help Soviets

LEAD: Welcome to what the First Lady of the Garden State calls New Jersey's White House.

The Florios' New Home: Italian Marble and Rusty Water

LEAD: Worried about mounting hostility to Japan's huge investments in the United States, the Japanese Government will offer Japanese companies a large tax deduction if they give money to hospitals, schools or philanthropic activities in the United States, Government officials say.

Japan to Give Tax Benefits For Charitable Aid in U.S.

LEAD: Steve L. is a convicted sex offender who came home from work near here one recent day at 3 P.M., as required under his probation. At 4:09, he left his house for 17 minutes. And the signal from a small radio transmitter attached to his ankle could no longer reach a monitoring box in the kitchen.

For Some Felons, Signals Replace Cells

BUSINESS DIGEST

LEAD: The Texas Air Corporation said yesterday that it had sold a 50 percent interest in its computer reservation system to a subsidiary of the General Motors Corporation for more than $250 million.

Texas Air in Deal With G.M. Unit

LEAD: Defense Minister Magnus A. Malan since 1987 knew of a secret ''hit squad'' made up of police officers that was used to kill opponents of apartheid, a leading South African newspaper reported today.

Pretoria's Defense Minister Knew Of 'Hit Squads,' Newspaper Says

LEAD:    Sandinista Campaign Rally       Hundreds of thousands of Nicaraguans rallied in Managua as the Sandinista Government wrapped up its election campaign. Page A10.       Caring for the Homeless       An emerging group of doctors is confronting the staggering medical problems of the homeless and finding diverse ways to deliver care.

INSIDE

LEAD: Endorsing a broad interpretation of Federal securities law, the Supreme Court ruled today that many unsecured promissory notes, sold privately and not traded on any stock exchange, were subject to Federal regulation as securities.

Court Backs Broad Definition for Securities

LEAD: When the family that founded the Cummins Engine Company bought out an unwelcome suitor last July, family members made much of the fact that the $72 million they had personally paid Hanson P.L.C. for its 10 percent stake was $5 million more than the going price.

Talking Deals;   Purchase of Cummins Stake Looks Less Sacrificial Now

LEAD: Suffolk County investigators, seeking clues in the car-bombing death last week of a Suffolk narcotics detective, continued searching today at the home of a Nassau County police officer who has been called a prime suspect.

Police Search Officer's Home In Bomb Death

LEAD: As many creditors reacted with dismay to the news that Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. had paid perhaps as much as $350 million in bonuses to executives in the weeks before it collapsed, the firm's chief executive, Frederick H. Joseph, made a telephone conference call yesterday to assure some creditors that the firm had done nothing untoward.

Drexel Offers Explanation For Bonuses

LEAD: When Bishop Thomas V. Daily takes charge of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, he will face racial tensions and ethnic sensitivities as well as difficult choices about maintaining churches and schools in neighborhoods where the numbers of Catholics have declined.

Brooklyn Bishop Is Facing Diverse Cultures and Tensions

LEAD: For Lee A. Iacocca, a funny thing happened on the way to retirement: The Chrysler Corporation, which seemed to need him less and less during the mid-1980's, is struggling again and is once more turning to his personal brand of salesmanship to revive its fortunes.

Iacocca Revival: U.S. Cars Praised

LEAD: The first chores of spring begin in late February. Now is the time to have gasoline-powered lawn mowers serviced, to have their blades sharpened or replaced and to check their spark plugs and oil filters. The ornamental grasses and perennials left standing over the winter should be cut back now. Many deciduous shrubs, like the taller kinds of cotoneaster, can be pruned now, when the structure of their branches is plain enough to see.

  Southern Blooms In Northern Climes

LEAD: EVEN its architect cannot seem to keep the number of rooms straight. ''I think there are about 60 of them, and 11 or 12 bathrooms,'' Francis C. Klein said of the mammoth private house that he has just completed on a 13-acre property in Fairfield County, Conn.

Architect's Challenge: Making 60 Rooms Cozy

LEAD: Almost 2,600 untrained New York City teachers hired during the teacher shortage of recent years have not received the training they were promised, school and teachers union officials disclosed yesterday.

2,595 New York City Teachers Go Untrained

LEAD: ''I'm a good Catholic,'' the Governor of New York, in the privacy of his Albany office, reminded a ranking Roman Catholic clergyman as they debated a proposed constitutional amendment.

Metro Matters;   Albany Redux: Faith and Politics Are in Conflict

LEAD: THE far west end of 33d Street is an improbable site to construct a 1,990-square-foot, three-bedroom ranch house. But one was completed there yesterday in the Jacob Javits Convention Center as an exhibit for the Greater New York Home and Apartment Show.

Ideas for the House, Ranch to Cape Cod

LEAD: VMS Realty Partners, the troubled real estate giant, said today that its chief executive of only four months, Jeffrey A. Park, would resign. Joel A. Stone, who had been president before Mr. Park joined the company will succeed Mr. Park, VMS said.

Ex-Officer To Become VMS Chief

LEAD: L. William Seidman, the chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, said today that regulators were searching for ways to permit very large banks to fail without the Government bailing out all depositors and creditors who might face losses.

U.S. Policy On Deposits Is Criticized

LEAD: Heavily affected by harsh early-winter weather, consumer prices soared 1.1 percent in January, the biggest monthly advance in more than seven years, the Labor Department reported today.

CONSUMER PRICES ROSE IN JANUARY BY A SHARP 1.1%

LEAD: Dealing an unexpected setback to the deregulatory efforts of the Reagan and Bush administrations, the Supreme Court ruled today that the White House budget office lacked statutory authority to block certain regulations issued by other Federal agencies.

High Court Decides Budget Office Exceeded Power in Blocking Rules

LEAD: The Exxon Corporation has agreed to return to the beaches fouled by the Exxon Valdez oil spill no later than May 1 and resume cleanup operations in Prince William Sound and the Gulf of Alaska.

Exxon to Renew Alaska Cleanup; Accord Ends Standoff With State

LEAD: Texas Instruments Inc. said today that its wafer fabrication plant here had made the company's first computer memory chip capable of storing 16 million bits of information.

February 22, 1990

Headlines from February 22, 1990

Havel's 'Paradoxical' Plea: Help Soviets

The Florios' New Home: Italian Marble and Rusty Water

Japan to Give Tax Benefits For Charitable Aid in U.S.

For Some Felons, Signals Replace Cells

BUSINESS DIGEST

Billboard 200

Forever Your Girl

Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814

Girl You Know It's True

...But Seriously

Cosmic Thing

Historical Context for February 22, 1990