By a slim margin, the participants in The Willard Group's January Online Opinion Leader Survey, in coordination with The Ukrainian Observer, feel the Maidan Nezlezhnosti (Independence Square) doesn't need another face lift.
Despite stirring some opposition that the Maidan's architecture makes it appear "off balance" at best, 41 per cent of those responding said it should be left the way it is, compared to 39 percent who believed it should be changed.
There has been some discussion in the press as of late about possible plans to alter the landmark. Twenty per cent responded that they "didn't care" whether it remained the same or was changed.
Once again more than one-third of The Willard Group's Committee of 300 opinion leaders in business, government, NGO work and the press responded to the nonscientific poll, but representative survey of our opinion leader panel.
The Ukrainian Observer was delighted when the man known as "The Observer" about town, Robert Reed, edged out the popular bar and restaurant entrepreneur Eric Aigner, in what we termed a contest to determine the Expat King. Reed had 35 per cent to Aigner's 27 percent. AmCham director Jorge Zukoski, was a respectable third at 11 per cent.
There was no great surprise regarding Ukraine's elections. Most everyone wants the president to be directly elected and not by the parliament. In our most lopsided result, 90 per cent said a vote by the people, and three per cent favored a vote of the Rada.
The battle of the Irish Pubs found O'Brien's edging out the Golden Gate by a 35 to 30 per cent margin. However, and we thought this was significant, 35 per cent listed "other" as their favorite Irish Pub. We confess to not being aware of a third one, unless the reference is to The Wall, which was first billed as an Irish Pub, we are told.
Finally, in our most off-beat question, we asked which popular singer's death had the greatest impact on you. Here, we believe generational and geographic factors played heavily with John Lennon's death being a profound event in many lives, 38 per cent.
For a complete listing of the poll results, see below:
|
Like the Maidan Nezlezhnosti the way it currently is. |
48 |
41 % |
Believe the architecture should be changed. |
46 |
39 % |
Don't care. |
24 |
20% |
| Total people responded on the question: 118 |
|
A vote of the people |
110 |
93 % |
A vote of the Rada |
4 |
3 % |
Doesn't make much difference |
4 |
3 % |
| Total people responded on the question: 118 |
|
O'Brien's |
40 |
35 % |
Golden Gate |
34 |
30 % |
Other |
40 |
35 % |
| Total people responded on the question: 114 |
|
AmCham's Jorge Zukoski |
 |
12 |
11 % |
The Observer's "Observer", Robert Reed |
 |
39 |
35 % |
Or the well-known bar entrepreneur, Eric Aigner |
 |
31 |
27 % |
Other |
31 |
27 % |
| Total people responded on the question: 113 |
|
The death of Hank Williams |
1 |
1 % |
The deaths of Buddy Holley, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson) |
7 |
6 % |
The death of Elvis Presley |
15 |
13 % |
The death of John Lennon |
43 |
38 % |
Death of Freddie Mercury |
20 |
18 % |
The death of Curt Cobain |
11 |
10 % |
Other |
15 |
13 % |
| Total people responded on the question: 112 |
|
