December 4, 1991

FOR the purposes of statehood, Vermont was born on March 4, 1791, in Windsor. But for marketing purposes, Vermont was born on Nov. 11, 1984, in Manhattan, at the third annual Gourmet Products and Tabletop Show. That's as far as Jerome Kelley is concerned, and he should know. As director for marketing with the Vermont Department of Agriculture, Mr. Kelley seven years ago shanghaied a motley assortment of specialty food producers and trekked with them to New York to help them display their wares, thus becoming midwife to the birth of a marketing concept that some artisans and specialty food producers call "Vermont Inc."

The Government's main economic forecasting index edged up one-tenth of 1 percent in October, the third straight month of essentially flat performance after a string of solid advances from February through July. The result was still more evidence that whatever recovery began to take shape this summer may be about to disappear -- or may have vanished already. The index of leading indicators, which failed to predict the onset of the recession that began in July 1990, has been viewed by some as having become more useful as a gauge of current economic activity than as a predictor.

Transit officials say they have found a way to hold down the increase in the New York City subway and bus fare by taking money from the commuter railroads. The proposal would limit the fare increase in the city to 15 cents, raising the current $1.15 fare to $1.30. Transit officials have been saying for months that some fare increase on Jan. 1 is inevitable.

The resignation of Dr. David Baltimore as president of Rockefeller University, which came to many as a surprise yesterday, occurred after weeks of debate among faculty members over a brilliant scientist and administrator who came with a mandate to make changes but also brought with him a festering problem of his own. He was brought in a year and half ago to revitalize an aging faculty at the renowned research university, a task that would have been difficult and unpopular in any case. But to compound matters, he brought a controversy of his own, his disputed handling of a case of a research fraud, to the travails already disturbing the quiet campus on the East Side of Manhattan. A Colleague Withdraws Support Dr. Baltimore could not be reached by telephone yesterday and the full account of what prompted his resignation cannot be told until he and others are willing to describe their roles in the complex drama. But according to friends, he had been to the brink of resignation several times before. It was a few days before Thanksgiving, when Dr. James Darnell, a close scientific colleague, decided he could no longer continue to support him, that Dr. Baltimore finally decided to step down from one of the most prestigious posts in academic research.

One of the leading proponents of Gov. Jim Florio's $2.8 billion tax package, Senator Laurence S. Weiss, said today that he would introduce five bills this week to rescind the entire package. Mr. Weiss, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Revenue, Finance and Appropriations Committee, also said his panel will hold a public hearing on the repeal plan next week. "The voters sent a clear and resounding message rejecting last year's tax increases," said Mr. Weiss, a four-term legislator who was defeated Nov. 5 in his largely Democratic district in Woodbridge. "Lawmakers should be responsive to public sentiment by fully exploring the feasibility of repealing the new taxes."