Editor:

One way to discourage the billboards along Highway 101 ("Billboard Blight," March 29) is not to patronize the businesses on the billboards.  If these businesses were to discover that billboards are not cost effective, they will then seek other means of advertising that do not affect our view of the bay. If the billboard owners cannot rent the billboard space, they would not be so motivated to hang onto them through lawsuits and complaints.

This suggestion is nothing personal against the businesses that advertise on the billboards; they are honestly trying to keep their businesses going during economic hard times, and that is a good thing. However, these businesses could explore alternate methods of publicity that are just as effective as the billboards.

And by the way, as an HSU alumna, I think it is particularly egregious that a university that takes pride in its ecology programs and green underpinnings would promote the Jacks on one of those bay blighting billboards. Couldn't HSU promote the Jacks just as effectively on its very own eponymous radio station?

Marilyn Andrews, Arcata

Editor:

Just about all billboards are ugly.
Traveling into a strange town, I have found them helpful sometimes. For example, I rely on billboards to locate my favorite tourist attraction in Reno, the Sierra Trading Post. But pump repair? Cell phones? There's got to be a better way.  

Susan Nolan, McKinleyville