August 19, 1990

LEAD: President Bush has ordered a quiet dismantling of an aggressive Reagan Administration effort to restrict sources of computerized information, including databases, collections of commercial satellite photographs and information compiled by university researchers.

LEAD: THE success of a Ritz Carlton Hotel being built in this resort town 22 miles north of Jacksonville could depend on the outcome of a suit aimed at banning the driving of cars on the beach.

LEAD: For oil companies, Iraq's invasion of Kuwait has created a host of uncertainties about prices and supplies. But there is no question that the Mideast crisis, however it is resolved, has the potential to reshape the industry.

LEAD: AS the 21st Century Committee looks at where this city wants to go and how to get there, officials and residents say they are optimistic about the future. But they express frustration about Mount Vernon's negative image, which they say is undeserved.

LEAD: With pitch-roofed, chimney-topped, brick buildings that look more like homes than most homes do, a condominium office park is being planned for the Toms River section of Dover Township, N.J. Its 27 buildings will range from a 1,200-square-foot, one-story unit (for $192,000) to a 2,400-square-foot, two-story unit (for $475,000).

LEAD: On a rainy day in late July, the Dawn Collective Farm resembles a hog wallow in which someone has planted discarded tractor parts, rusting sheds and weathered buildings, creating a powerful impression of gloom and neglect.

LEAD: Rikers Inmate Dies An inmate hospitalized after a jail disturbance died, but the cause of death was unclear. Page 22. Pesticides and Migrants The nation's first comprehensive medical study of migrant farm workers is under way in Ohio. Page 16. News Summary, Page 2 Obituaries, Page 34 Weather,

LEAD: THE race is on. President George Bush versus President Saddam Hussein. There is no prize for coming in second.

LEAD: The Mets reached the crisis stage in the pennant race today but survived when David Cone pitched them past the San Francisco Giants, 9-2. He gave up seven hits, struck out 13 batters and kept the Mets from falling three games out of first place in the National League East with 45 games to go in a season that has suddenly become short and dangerous.

LEAD: WHEN he was a boy growing up in Akron, N. Y., Renso L. Caporali read a ''Ripley's Believe It or Not'' item asserting that throughout history there had nearly always been a war going on somewhere in the world. He believed it then, and still does now as the newly appointed chairman of the Grumman Corporation, Long

LEAD: Drawing on the architectural tradition of the mews - 19th-century stables or carriage houses grouped around a courtyard - a developer in the Carroll Gardens section of Brooklyn is completing three small houses that are bigger than many apartments but smaller than most single-family homes. The developer, Jonathan Perlstein, has clustered the houses around a private courtyard at 126 Fourth Place.

LEAD: Declaring the American-led naval blockade ''an act of war,'' Iraq said tonight that thousands of foreigners, including infants, who have been turned into hostages would suffer the same food shortages as Iraqis.