Parents raise voices I’m writing to thank you and Sebastian Ruiz for covering the March 24 San Diego Unified School Board meeting (“Principal-sharing plan sparks protest,” Village News, March 26, page 3). With such limited access to the school board members regarding the decisions they’re making, concerned parents are relying on the media to help get our voices heard on these major budget cuts. We’re looking to help the board make better decisions, but have so few options for input. Mr. Ruiz’s article demonstrated great professionalism. I was quoted accurately in the article, and he was able to gain quotes from a school board member as well. Rather than having to submit a letter to the editor, I’m grateful to have a professional journalist cover this important story. Thank you for your commitment to covering local stories like this that hold such long-term effects on our children and community. Lisa Bonebrake, Parents’ Committee, Bird Rock Elementary School Cows are udderly delightful I would like to respond to recent letters about the CowParade. Visitors will come from near and far to view the cows against the backdrop of our scenic La Jolla. What I love most about these beautifully decorated, artistically creative and whimsical creatures are the smiles they bring to the faces of children and adults. A herd of 40 sculptures have taken up springtime residence in La Jolla offering us free fun and excitement. Maybe it sounds goofy, but the cows will give us all something to connect with, something that helps us talk with each other and something that makes us happy. It couldn’t be more perfect. The beauty of the project is that the cows stay with us long after the last “moo” is heard. The fund-raising auction of the cows will most certainly provide significant dollars to support our local charitable organizations. Congratulations to the planners and providers who helped make this happen. Susan Cohn, La Jolla Humans have done our selfish best Marine biologist [David} Valentine surely knows that the water in the Children’s Pool is much the same as the water in La Jolla Cove, along The Shores, at Pacific Beach, and indeed at Birdrock. It is all California coastal water subjected to fertilizer runoff, chemical spills, oil spills, mercury, Naval activity, 3,000-passenger cruise ships, uncountable plastic debris, miles of loose fishing nets, waste of every imaginable kind and over-fishing. How anything still survives is a miracle. Humans have done our selfish best to destroy our greatest earthly treasures. The water in the pool is completely changed twice a day by tides and almost continually being flushed by surf and shore currents. The ocean itself is polluted at the 2009 level, but I assume that is still considered safe for humans. It seems incredible that Ph.D. Valentine would try to prove a point with ancient fear-based mythology: “Dread fear of you shall come upon all animals of the earth, and all the birds of the air, upon all the creatures that move about on the ground, and all the fishes of the sea, into your power they are delivered. Every creature that is alive shall be yours to eat.”! This, from a “biologist”? Thanks to our uncontrolled population explosion, we are rapidly accomplishing all of this. When we are at the end of the creatures, I hope Ph.D. Valentine is still around to demonstrate to those remaining with him the nutrient value of cockroaches, rats and seagulls. When they are devoured, humankind will turn upon itself for the “survival of the fittest” and revert to cannibalism. Fortunately I can see a glimmer at the end of this long, dark tunnel. I hope that evolution will try again, and next time change some of its plans to create a more “Peaceable Kingdom.” Peter Fraser, La Jolla