How Gramm-Rudman hits some programs

Automatic cuts in most domestic and military programs began Saturday. Some major effects: Agriculture: Federal price supports for nonfat dry milk, cheese, and butter will fall from $11.60 per hundred pounds to roughly $11.10.

Defense: The Pentagon will discharge thousands of servicemen from duty ahead of schedule, cut flight time for pilots, and postpone transfers to new duty stations. Operating hours for Air Force commissaries will be cut, some 12,000 National Guard and Army Reserve members will be unable to attend training schools, and the amount of military family housing to be built will be reduced. Education: Some 91,000 fewer students will get college scholarships (called Pell Grants) for the coming school year. A spending ceiling will knock 199,000 other students out of the program. The income eligibility cutoff for a student from a family of four, which was $28,400, will drop to $23,900.

Elections: The Federal Election Commission will stop entering into its computers the names of individuals who contribute $500 or more to politicians or political action committees, although the information will be available on paper.

Human services: Patients, doctors, and hospitals will get 1 percent less from the government for medicare services.

Other: Starting March 9, the Library of Congress will close Sundays and most weekday evenings. The Smithsonian Institution's museums and art galleries have canceled summer evening hours. The National Zoo is defering purchase of equipment for a new veterinary hospital.

-- The Associated Press