By
Emily Severson
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Yesterday's drizzle had some club members worried about profit
Spring Fling started out yesterday with cooler weather than expected, and by about 7 last night most of the carnival's booths were covered with a tarp.
Last year, the student-run event lost money because of accounting problems and in 1999 it did not make a profit because of the weather.
"This year we have fixed the problems of past years, except the weather," said Jennifer Olding, Spring Fling marketing director.
"I think we will be able to maintain good attendance," she added. "Even if students are hesitant to come out today, they will probably come over the next three days, so we won't lose business."
Jana Brewer, Spring Fling's executive director, said preliminary attendance looked fine yesterday despite the weather.
"We are just trying to do the best we can, so we can break even," Brewer said.
Jessica Miller, Spring Fling public relations director, said the goal is to have about 45,000 people attend the carnival this year.
Eric Ross, a finance senior, said the weather and work obligations would deter him from attending this year's Spring Fling even though he had attended in the past.
"Spring Fling was fun when I was a freshman or sophomore, but it is not really my crowd anymore," Ross said.
About 90 clubs and organizations participated in Spring Fling last year and made $84,000. Olding added that they were hoping the 100 clubs this year would make closer to $90,000 .
Rachel Aja, a volunteer at Alpha Chi Omega and Alpha Gamma Rho's ice-cream booth said she was worried their sales could be hurt by the weather.
"I hope people will still want ice cream even if it is cold," Aja said. "I go to Cold Stone when it 's cold."
Erin Macrae, a volunteer at the Lambda Pi Eta face-painting booth and a communication senior, said she thought yesterday's weather could be a drawback to her organization's booth as well.
Olding and Miller said the purpose of Spring Fling shifted since its move off campus to Rillito Downs race track, 4502 N. First Ave., from an event for UA students to a fund-raiser for university clubs.
Olding said the new location influenced advertising this year. Representatives went to local high schools and met with community members who live around Rillito Downs, Miller said.
"We still want campus support, but we spread ourselves more around Tucson this year," Olding said.
Part of the plan to appeal to the Tucson community includes targeting the Hispanic community, so Sunday will be Fiesta Day, and will include radio station Mega 106.3 FM, Olding said.
But, she added that targeting UA students was important as well.
"We have a shuttle from the flagpole by Old Main which will run continuously, but students can expect it about every half-hour," Olding said.
The event was moved because of construction of the Integrated Learning Center, but it is yet to be determined whether the space left after construction will be adequate to host the event in the future, Olding said.
"We are a campus event and we would like to move back to campus, but for now Rillito is a great home for us," Olding said.
There has also been a positive community response to having the event three miles off campus, Miller said.
"Last year we had an amazing response from patrons," Olding said. "We did a marketing survey of our patrons and 100 percent of them were in favor or neutral to our new location."
"Having the carnival off campus unites the community," Miller said. "Our focus is to raise money for UA clubs, but provide for the Tucson community as well."
The event requires a seven-acre area and includes more than 30 carnival rides.
Because of the record-breaking attendance last year of 42,000, this year's Spring Fling directors decided to make only tonight free admission to anyone with a CatCard, Miller said. Last year both Thursday and Friday were free admission nights.
Spring Fling is the seventh-largest event in Tucson. A total of 3,000 UA students volunteer at the carnival, which features rides, games, food and entertainment.
