Letters to the Editor
Kudos for the 75th anniversary special
Your insert "Celebrating 75 Years" was a wonderfully informative
and interesting addition to the October issue. The hard work that went into
it certainly shows. I was particularly entertained to learn that the State Bar's
very first member was a Waste (William Waste, 1868-1940). May our annual dues
continue to keep his name fresh in our minds!
Robert J. Cleek
Novato
An incorrect first'
Frank F. Chuman is incorrectly listed as the first Japanese-American admitted
to the State Bar after World War II. That distinction belongs to my father,
Kenji Ito, who was admitted in 1945. Mr. Ito was born in 1909 and in 1936 he
graduated from the University of Washington Law School until the war broke out
and he was interned with the other Japanese- Americans on the West Coast. Upon
release from the Minidoka Relocation Center in Idaho, Mr. Ito established his
practice in Los Angeles, assisting former Japanese internees in claims for property
they had been forced to abandon upon the relocation.
Mr. Ito retired in 1999 and currently resides in Alhambra.
Ayleen Ito Lee
Palo Alto
Editor's Note: Ms. Lee is correct. Frank F. Chuman was admitted to the bar two
years after her father.
What the string theory really means
Much as I have come to admire Diane Karpman's brobdingnagian grasp of the intricacies
of State Bar rules and legal ethics, I was dismayed to read her take on modern
physics' "string theory" in October. Far from being the physicist's
"fantastic rationalization for theoretical failure," string theory
is presently the most promising paradigm for explaining the mysteries of the
universe; our best attempt to date to harness that great Holy Grail of physics,
the Unified Field Theory (roughly the synthesis of quantum theory with the general
theory of relativity) that has eluded the best minds of science including, most
famously, Albert Einstein's.
To describe string theory as "nine universes connected by a string"
is akin to saying Crime and Punishment is a book about a man who kills an old
lady. While there may be nine dimensions or maybe more in the
string theory model, I can assure Ms. Karpman that at least four of them, height,
width, breadth and time, exist perfectly understandably and harmoniously in
this modest little universe that we share together with rocks, rutabagas and
Republicans.
Presumably, the other five dimensions rest comfortably here as well, but only
perceptible through the lens of mathematical theory only slightly less dense
than the law of legal ethics.
David A. Grey
Beverly Hills
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