KEVIN B. KLAUS/Arizona Daily Wildcat Psychology and linguistics sophomore Ryan Parks, with help from other members of the Sign Language Association, hangs a banner advertising the sale of Dippin' Dots for Spring Fling. The student-run carnival runs tonight through Sunday at Rillito Downs on North First Avenue.

In 1974, two UA students, Ken Sobel and Scott Nation, went on a trip to California to see how student governments were run.

While at the University of California, Los Angeles, they heard about a Mardi Gras carnival put on by student government to raise money.

Sobel, the newly elected student body president, and Nation, the newly elected executive vice president, came back to the UA, determined to plan and organize a carnival for the UA and Tucson community.

It took one year to put everything together, but they pulled it off. And thanks to their efforts, UA students can visit the 30th annual Spring Fling carnival that kicks off today.

Nation, who is now a mortgage banker, still marvels at how much the carnival has grown.

Although Spring Fling brought in $15,000 less last year than in previous years, other statistics represent just how far the carnival has come.

In 1974, Spring Fling brought in $4,000.

The carnival grossed between $250,000 and $300,000 in 2003.

"In the first year, I think we just did it Friday and Saturday night. Saturday night, I went over to the carnival operator, and he had a stack of ones, fives, 10s and 20s that were 1 inch tall, and he handed it to me in cash," Nation said. "The first cut was something like $4,000. To hear the numbers these years is pretty incredible."

Nation said he and Sobel hoped the carnival would eventually rival the size of the Mardi Gras fair at UCLA.

Apparently, that has happened, he said, citing recent Spring Fling organizers who tout the event as the largest student-run carnival in the country.

The purpose of the carnival is to provide entertainment for students as well as an opportunity for campus groups to raise money.

Although Spring Fling attendance has skyrocketed since Nation founded it, organizers have become increasingly worried about recent ups and downs that have caused attendance to drop.

Organizers estimated that fewer than 30,000 people attended the 29th annual event held last year, 5,000 fewer than in 2002 and more than 10,000 short of the organizers' goal.

This year, Tricia Domschke, public relations director for Spring Fling, said organizers are only hoping for 25,000 people to attend because the carnival falls on Easter weekend.

Worried that people won't visit Rillito Downs, where the carnival is held, the Spring Fling promotional marketing director is working hard to keep attendance up.

"There's been a lot more campus promotions this year than in years past, which was one of my personal goals to do this year," said Brittany Maly, promotional marketing director for Spring Fling.

Maly can thank Nation for some of the promotional strategies she has used. Nation said as the first carnival approached, he was looking for ways to market the event. After he heard that Karl Eller, then-president of Eller Outdoor Advertising, was a UA alumnus, he wrote to him and asked him for support.

Eller donated 10 billboards to support Nation and Sobel's efforts.

This year's carnival, which is still advertised on Eller billboards, will feature more than 30 rides and 48 food and game booths sponsored by more than 60 UA campus clubs and organizations.

When Spring Fling moved out to the park five years ago to make way for the Integrated Learning Center and allow for better disability access, it also made the carnival an event for the UA community and Tucson, Domschke said.

Nation said he supports the move.

"Well, it was neat to have it on campus, but I understand there's just not the room anymore to have it on campus," he said. "In fact, it seems like more of the community is able to participate in the program by having it off campus, so I think that's a good thing."

The move also allowed for more space for rides and performances, said Lindsay Urbank, executive director of Spring Fling.

This year, the 10 organizers involved in Spring Fling are expecting 250 to 300 volunteers and security guards, along with more than 60 clubs that will help sell food and raise money for their organizations. Food sold will range from Dippin' Dots ice cream to El Guero Canelo, to American Indian frybread to Philly cheesesteaks.

Nation said what impresses him most about Spring Fling, 30 years later, is the "sophistication."

"The security guards, the walkie-talkies," he said.

But Nation, who left a journal and a manual for future Spring Fling coordinators, said despite all the changes, there is one important similarity between the 2004 carnival and the first carnival he ran in 1975.

"The basic idea is still the same," he said.

Spring Fling runs today and Friday from 4 p.m. to midnight. On Saturday, the carnival runs from noon to midnight, and from noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday.

Shuttles will run from Old Main to Rillito Downs every 30 to 45 minutes.

Entrance is free with a CatCard and $3 to the public.