My thoughts on the peacock eradication program, as mentioned in Sunday's paper, are twofold:

• Thinning out the peacock population would bring the peacock numbers down to a more manageable state.

• Knowing that the peacocks left would still pose the problems that residents mentioned, I believe that simple steps should be taken to ensure the residents' happiness with the peacocks. The residents should put up a fence around the pool area to solve the issue of the birds being on the pool deck. Also, if people ignore and do not feed the birds, they would be less attracted to residential areas.

Laura A. Rolfe

Smoking ban would hurt Hawai'i County

A smoking ban in Hawai'i County would be a loss to the county's already-strapped budget. Hawai'i County's sources of revenue are very limited (i.e., property tax, percentage of the room-and-board tax, trash-disposal fee). Cigarettes, cigars and the like bring revenue to the county.

Establishments with bars would be the hardest hit if the smoking ban is passed. Most of these establishments would likely close. This would contribute to a higher unemployment rate and increase the number of welfare recipients.

Those in favor of a smoking ban say that not banning smoking would greatly affect their health and the health of others. Instead of a general smoking ban, establishments that cater to nonsmokers and smokers alike should themselves decide whether to allow smoking and where it is permissible to smoke on their property.

Drew E. Kosora

Branding process must include input from all

It's nice to know that Evan Dobelle is listening to opinions on the school logo voiced outside of the University of Hawai'i administration. Unfortunately, if the school's approach to logo development represents the way the rest of the branding campaign has been handled, it's difficult to imagine that it will have the desired impact or that an appropriate logo will ever be developed.

Input from all of an organization's stakeholders has been the hallmark of every successful branding campaign I'm aware of, including those in which I was involved on the Mainland and in Hawai'i. The core of a branding campaign should be the identification of an organization's promise to deliver valued benefits to all those who have a stake in its success.

In the case of UH, the universe of stakeholders would include virtually everyone in the state, as the diversity of those raising objections to the proposed logos indicates. If the university's brand is not only going to differentiate UH from other institutions, but do so in a way that truly matters to students and faculty, prospective students and faculty, and all those who care about UH, the branding process must be informed by the collective wisdom of the entire community.

Surveys, interviews, focus groups and other information-gathering activities should be leveraged to determine how the university is viewed, what the community wants the university to be and how far we need to go to get there. Once a true assessment of the UH brand has been done, then the logo, the vision, the mission statement and the rest of the brand architecture can be developed logically.

John Williamson

Furor over Sunset is political back-biting

I didn't count heads at the gates, but at 6 p.m. Sunday, the parking lot at the Kapolei Fairgrounds was full (a free shuttle service was available) and I am quite willing to believe that there was an attendance of 50,000 — as there was the day before.

Having witnessed Sunset on the Beach in Waikiki on previous occasions and its overwhelming success with my fellow citizens as well as tourists, I surmise that the City Council's agitation to eliminate these highly popular events is pure political back-biting. At long last, here is a joyful meeting of kama'aina and visitors (with support by local businesses), and the people supposedly representing us ignore the huge manifestation of our support.

I found the Sunday Sunset a profoundly touching occasion. There was a genuine, overwhelming expression of aloha and mahalo toward our armed forces, and it was incredibly stirring to feel our community so united in its support.

As a supporter of the Honolulu Symphony, I was grateful that it was able to participate in this joyful occasion and rejoiced in hearing thousands sing our national hymns, marches and songs with our musicians. A classical touch was added with the popular "1812 Overture," and the concert concluded with glorious fireworks.

It's good to live in Honolulu.

George Cassarno

Budget cuts call for end to unpopular projects

Regarding "Budget cuts hurt road repairs" (May 5): I would think that with the road maintenance repair budgets being tight, our government officials would postpone projects such as creating roundabouts that are not very popular with residents of the affected areas or spending thousands of dollars to mess up a beautiful stretch of Hunakai Street near Kahala Mall.