Spring Fling, which for 26 years was a staple on the Mall, won't return to the UA campus anytime soon. And though there's more space for the carnival at the north-side Rillito Park, organizers should consider the benefits of bringing it back to campus, even if it means scaling down the event.

The annual carnival, which is one of Tucson's largest events and has been billed as the largest student-run carnival in the world, hosts carnival rides and allow clubs to make money by running game and food booths.

To make room for Mall construction three years ago, it moved to Rillito Park, which is several miles north of campus.

Wheelchair accessibility has been one of the driving forces keeping the carnival at Rillito, but that reasoning is a little puzzling.

Sue Kroeger, the director of the Disability Resource Center, said that with a little planning, the Mall could be made wheelchair-accessible. The main concern would be making sure that ramps were set up so people in wheelchairs could get onto the grass.

Kroeger doesn't think that would be very difficult, and it would be a reasonable step for the Spring Fling's organizers to take.

Assuming the accessibility problem could be resolved, there also remains the issue of space. With the Integrated Learning Center occupying much of the Mall space that used to hold Spring Fling, and construction of the Alumni Plaza set to begin in the spring, it could be that the Mall simply isn't big enough anymore.

But there's still a lot of space out there, and even if the square footage doesn't match that at Rillito, organizers should at least consider paring the event down to bring it back to the UA and make it more convenient.

A student-run carnival should also be student-oriented, and there's no better way to orient the carnival toward students than to keep it on campus. Though hourly shuttles can carry students back and forth to Rillito, that's still a major inconvenience when compared with the possibility of walking out your residence hall door and onto the Mall.

Even if bringing back the carnival proves unfeasible, the event's organizers need to more seriously address the possibility.