Addressing all your most important questions and concerns

Question: I have always wondered where the rock on the east side of Old Main came from, what it signifies, and why it is there. It is the lone rock, with a lot of holes drilled into it, and it's spray-painted. What's the deal?

Answer: You know, I've seen the rock you speak of many times and always wondered the same thing. A friend of mine told me that when you smack it music plays, and that each hole correlates to a different sound. Aside from what I imagine must be a very entertaining "rock" concert (rock, get it? hehehehe) I have no clue what purpose it serves.

However, after speaking with UA spokesperson Sharon Kha and representatives from the College of Engineering and Mines, I found out the rock is used in the annual drilling contest sponsored by the mining and geological engineering department, held in the third week of February during Engineer's Week festivities.

Engineer's Week is a seven-day celebration which features hands-on exhibits demonstrating magnetism, minerals, momentum and many more fun scientific things.

The mining and geological engineering department holds the contest every year to showcase its students' talents and get exposure for the department. The competition is 50 years old, and after the designated granite rock is all drilled out from previous competitions and there isn't room for any more damage, it is replaced by a new one. Most rocks last four or five years. The current one was donated by Phelps Dodge Sierrita, an Arizona-based mining company.

Contest participants use a jack-leg drill, a 70 pound pneumatic power drill that has to be operated by two people and supported by a hoist. In the actual mining industry, it's used for drilling dynamite holes.

I've got to admit, I'm a little disappointed it's no longer the "magical musical rock with mysterious holes in it." I guess I'll have to go elsewhere for a rock concert.

Do you have a burning question that keeps you up tossing and turning at night? Send it to the campus detective! E-mail her at catcalls@wildcat.arizona.edu.