No More Whitewash, Officials Say of Resilient Cowles Mountain ‘S’

Call it The S That Won’t Die.

A whitewashed S has loomed since 1931 from the southwest flank of Cowles Mountain, the highest point in San Diego at 1,591 feet. It was the creation of San Diego State students brimming with school spirit in those pre-Sierra Club days.

For years, students organized annual painting pilgrimages. That all stopped a decade ago when Cowles Mountain became part of Mission Trails Regional Park.

A citizens’ advisory committee, including some State grads, was adamant: The S is not a landmark, it’s graffiti and therefore must go.

A cost-conscious city policy of malignant neglect was adopted. No money would be spent to remove the painted rocks, but neither would any repainting or maintenance be allowed.

A thick crop of brush soon surrounded the S and obliterated it from the view of nearby San Carlos. Then a brush fire last year burned away the growth and the S was again visible.

“People who had moved to the neighborhood in recent years were surprised when an S suddenly appeared on the mountain,” said Nancy Acevedo, deputy director of the Park and Recreation Department.

The anti-S cry went up more fervently than ever. A Boy Scout offered to dismantle the S as part of his Eagle Scout requirements (later he switched to building a small bridge over a stream).

Before the city and the advisory committee could act, something unexpected happened. Someone sneaked up the mountain, straightened out the rocks and applied a fresh coat of paint. Anonymously. No note, no phone call to local newspapers to claim credit, no initials left behind.

Committee members were unamused.

“The S is incompatible with the semi-natural state of the park,” said committee chairman Mike Pent, a deputy district attorney. He says repainting the S is vandalism just as surely as chopping down trees or dumping trash.

Last week the committee voted unanimously to ask the city to look for ways to eradicate the S. And the park ranger was put on notice to cite anyone caught red-handed at restoration.

Ranger Randy Hawley says he doesn’t know who repainted the S. But he’s got his suspicions.

He noted that the repainting occurred during the first two weeks of the fall semester--just as in the old tradition.

Tales of Spies and Sushi

If the FBI is worried about spies sneaking into San Diego disguised as dancers and opera singers, it might want to have an operative out at UC San Diego on Nov. 8.

That’s when smooth-talking Stanislav Levchenko will talk about his days as a KGB officer recruiting spies in Japan and elsewhere in the Far East.

With nary a G-man in sight, Levchenko spoke this spring to high schoolers in Vista. He even convinced them to divulge one of North County’s best-kept secrets: the location of the area’s best Japanese restaurant.

He picked up a taste for sushi while studying Oriental literature and history at spy school.

Black Berets Win Battle

See if one of these fits.

- After debating for two years, Navy brass have backed off from plans to eliminate the black beret as an optional “headcover” for women sailors.

Navy women reportedly were furious about the proposed change. In Navy parlance, that’s called “fleet input.”

- No one ever said the press is consistent.

The San Diego Press Club this week gave its Harold Keen Award for excellence to Charlie Ross, financial writer for the San Diego Union. Ross was lauded for clearing away the smoke screen put up by SDG&E; about its proposed sellout to Southern California Edison.

At the same banquet, the club named Dick Manning, SDG&E;’s vice president for public relations, as its PR Professional of the Year.

- The cherished La Jolla postmark will soon be tougher to get.

The Post Office is eliminating the special curbside drop box outside the Wall Street station. Mail dropped in the box will get the more plebeian San Diego postmark.

Anyone wanting the La Jolla mark will have to take his mail inside. Look for a rash of Mercedeses with double-parking tickets.