Could they drop eggs from the fifth floor of a building without breaking them?

Several technical-minded students participating in the annual "Egg Drop" contest proved they were all they were cracked up to be, the Associated Press reported.

Encasing eggs in such materials as styrofoam, Jell-O, cotton, balloons, and even a dead chicken, a few students succeeded in hitting a bull's-eye five stories down--with their eggs intact.

The contest could be messy, as bystanders found out while watching a plastic egg filled with chocolate pudding descend. The container shattered on impact, splattering spectators with pudding and egg.

Jerry Witt of Andover, Mass., tried stuffing his egg inside a missile of Italian bread. "If it breaks, I'll make French toast," he joked. The egg broke.

Dan Shugar, vice president of Tau Beta Pi, the national engineering society, said the contest was a way to "ease the pressure, to let off steam" before final examinations.

One of the day's few successes went to Ed Bosco of Ryebrook, N.Y. and Ron Diaz, of Elizabeth, N.J., who placed an egg inside a life-size, headless stuffed dummy dubbed "Buddy Homeslice." YALE UNIVERSITY

Stern & Son

Violinist Isaac Stern is giving his son David an early graduation present Saturday. The father and son will perform on stage together for the first time.

"I'm not sure who will be more nervous, David or I," the 65-year-old Stern told the Associated Press recently. "But I know the most nervous ones will be Mrs. Stern and the rest of the family."

With his son conducting, Stern will play Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto. The younger Stern, a music major at Yale University, also will conduct Brahms' German Requiem, and his father will play in the violin section of the orchestra.

Saturday's concert will be David's final one as director of the school's Bach Society, a position he has held for three years.

The concert is meant as a fundraiser for the Bach Society, but Isaac Stern said, "It's really a celebration of David's graduation." UNIVERSITY OF LOWELL

Fake Resume?

A University of Lowell professor accused of using a resume filled with inaccuracies and "half-truths" has stepped down from his post as the school's minority affairs advisor, The Associated Press reported this week.