By
Emily Severson
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Preliminary figures show about 1,000 less people attended Spring Fling 2001 than last year.
Jennifer Olding, Spring Fling marketing director, said about 32,000 people attended the event, down from last year's record-breaking attendance of 41,000.
Olding said she was not sure why there was a decrease in attendance but cited the weather on Thursday and Friday as a possible cause.
"If we could have had four full days of good weather I would have been thrilled," Olding said.
Spring Fling directors will not know the exact attendance numbers or profit until later this week, Olding said.
The average combined profits for Spring Fling's clubs and organizations is $80,000, but the past two years' Spring Fling planners have lost money.
The purpose of the event is for clubs and organizations to raise money, but the planners' goal is to at least break even.
This year's Spring Fling carnival, held at the Rillito Downs race track, 4502 N. First Ave, featured brightly-colored carnival rides, food and game booths, and live entertainment against the backdrop of the Catalina Mountains.
Almost every ride played music and vendors sold everything from corn dogs to stick-on tattoos.
"I think we had more experience with this year's location," Olding said. "We fixed any problems we had last year and we had a lot of support from the participating clubs and organizations."
Jessica Miller, Spring Fling public relations director, agreed with Olding and said the weather was really the only negative aspect of the event.
This year seven radio stations had live broadcasts or played music at the carnival, which Olding said attracted more people.
"It really helped that KRQ did a live-broadcast here on Thursday night," Olding said. "A lot of people thought we were closed because of the rain but then heard the KRQ broadcast and came here."
Olding said this year's carnival had a good combination of new attractions and old favorites. She said the University of Arizona Wild About Science tent attracted a lot of children. The tent was new this year and featured interactive toys and games.
Miller said the planners tried to attract families by having such events as Read-to-Ride, where children who brought two book reports with them could get on a ride at no cost.
"The carnival is a great way to unite the university with the Tucson community," Miller said.
She added that next year she wants to publicize the event to Tucson's surrounding areas to attract more people.
"This location is great for attracting the Tucson community," Miller said. "A lot of people who attended were from the northwest side."
Colleen Valker, a guest relations volunteer and English senior, said she thought the staff communication was especially effective this year.
"I think the location off campus is good and there is a great variety of live music," Valker said. She added that she stayed after her shift Saturday night to listen to Tongue Dried Sun, one of her favorite bands.
However, some students said they were disappointed by the off-campus location.
Business sophomore Harisimran Khalsa and journalism freshman Stephanie Faust attended the event for the first time together, and said the location made the carnival feel disconnected from the UA.
"This (event) should be for the students and that would be conveyed if it was on campus," Faust said.
Eric Sturtz, a civil engineering sophomore, said it was his first time attending the carnival and he was impressed with the size of it.
"I live close by so I decided to check this out, but I didn't realize until I got here the amount of student involvement in the event," Sturtz said.
He added that he liked the mountain climbing game and the bumper cars.
Dennis A. Serrano, a pre-architecture sophomore, came for the diversion.
"I am here because I would rather go on the rides than study and the food is good," he said.
Ryan Burton-Romero, an interdisciplinary studies senior who volunteered at the Arizona Ambassadors' booth selling pretzels, said the rain deterred people from coming the first two days but he was fairly sure his booth made a profit.
He added that this was his fourth time volunteering for Spring Fling and he thought this year's event was better organized than in the past. He said the only problem he noticed was parking, but he thought it had been worse when the carnival was on campus.
Spring Fling has grown since it's 1974 inception, when it had 20 booths and occupied less than one-quarter of the seven acre area it now demands. It now includes about 80 booths and about 15 rides.
It was relocated last year because of the construction of the Integrated Learning Center.
Spring Fling is the largest student-run carnival in the nation. About 3,000 students volunteer to work at the event.
