December 6, 1991

President Bush and his top economic advisers, undecided about what to propose to revive the flagging economy, sent mixed signals today on cutting taxes and on whether to violate last year's budget agreement. The confusion was clearest on Capitol Hill. On the first day of a series of Congressional hearings on tax policy and the state of the economy, the economic advisers at first suggested that giving the economy a quick jolt was more important than holding to the budget agreement. But they came back from a short lunch saying that breaking the agreement was unacceptable.

Zionism and the U.N. The United States and Israel are confident they have the votes to repeal a United Nations resolution equating Zionism with racism. Page A3. Mandela and Bush Meet The black nationalist leader sought to convince the U.S. that an interim Government in Pretoria would speed the transition to democracy. Page A3. Smith's Accuser Questioned The woman who says William K. Smith raped her underwent several hours of persistent questioning by Mr. Smith's lawyer. Page A16. Seeking to Start Old Reactor The Energy Department hopes to resume producing fuel for atomic bombs at an old reactor, but critics have questions. Page A14. An Option for Patriots Owner Victor Kiam, financially pressed owner of the New England Patriots, is exploring selling his Remington Products razor company. Page D1. Bowl Games Thrown for Loss An I.R.S. ruling has colleges and corporate sponsors fretting over the loss of tax-deductible payouts for bowl games in football. Page B9. Yankees Lose to Broadway Giving baseball his regards, Robert Nederlander plans to resign as head of the Yankees and concentrate on his family's theater business. Page B9.

NEW YORK CITY EXTRA TIME OFF FOR TEACHERS Teachers will get two extra days off this year because of an apparent misunderstanding by Board of Education officials and some deft bargaining by the teachers' union during the budget crisis earlier this year. B3.

The Lotus Development Corporation announced today that it planned to lay off 300 to 400 employees, or 10 percent of its work force, and take a $14 million to $18 million charge against earnings in the fiscal fourth quarter of 1991. The company also said it would consider moving from its Cambridge, Mass., headquarters and was studying lower-cost alternatives. Richard Eckel, a Lotus spokesman, stressed that the layoffs and charges were cost-saving measures and that despite the situation the company's revenues were showing healthy growth.

THE title character of "Marvin's Room," who is seen only as a blurred shape behind the glass-brick wall of his sickroom, has been dying for 20 years. Eaten up by cancer and crippled by strokes, he turns for entertainment to the simple pleasure of watching his lamp's light bounce around the walls and ceiling when it is reflected at bedside from a compact mirror. The heroine of "Marvin's Room" is the woman who takes care of Marvin, his 40-year-old daughter Bessie (Laura Esterman). She is dying of leukemia. The play's other characters include Marvin's aged sister and Florida housemate, Aunt Ruth (Alice Drummond), who has electrodes in her brain to stop the pain of three collapsed vertebrae, and Bessie's sister, Lee (Lisa Emery), a cosmetician who is in good health but has two severely troubled teen-age sons, the older of whom has been confined to a mental institution since burning down his own house and much of his neighborhood.