Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-03-26

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Section for the Naval Wealth
er Service Division Of the
u. s. Navy.
Anticipation
A great deal Of her job has
to do with anticipation" DR.,
van Straten explained in an
interview yesterday.
For example a new plane
is on the drawing board now
that will ny at q higher alti-
tude than q plane has ever
before flown" she explained,
$50 our job now is to prepare
the Navy with atmospheric
data such as the winds and
other conditions the plane
will encounter.
This means we have Ia
develop new types Of sound
ing equipment that will mea-
sure winds routinely at higher
attitudes. A whole set Of tech
niques and Instrumentation
has to be developed as new
types of operation unfold.
That Is our continuing job"
The presentation Of honor
airy membership was made at
the Wives Wing annual lunch
con yesterday by Mrs. Lang
don c. Newman. outgoing
president Of the Wing.
DR.. van Straten left a job
of teaching physical chem
istry at New York University
to join the WAVES during
World War II. So well did
she like the Navy. she stayed
on in a civilian status when
the war ended.
She's never regretted the
decision. 1t has meant "all
sorts of wonderful adven-
lures" she says.
DR.. van Straten stresses
that "all my work is team
work" But she did q solo
job that merited her a civil
service award from the Navy
in 1856.
Eliminates Guess Work
The award was given for
her work in finding a system
of computing radioactive
fallout on both a long range
and short range basis. It
takes the guess work out
of where the fallout may
occur. but Of course DR.. van
Straten hopes we never
have to use it"
In addition to measuring
wind velocity at high alti-
tudes, DR.. van Straten has
worked on Navy projects to
study fog dispersal, hurri-
cane detection and ocean,
ographic conditions.
She recalls with amuse-
ment how her work during
the war put her in the un7
usual position Of being the
only woman aboard a Navy
ship in the Atlantic.
This was unheard Of" she
said as she recalled her initial
CONSERVATION at finding she
outranked the skipper Of the
ship, who in addition had to
give up his quarters to her
because they were the only
ones aboard ship with any
privacy.
But all turned out well for
her week at sea. she said. II
wound up cooking for the
officers. 1t was quite an ad-
venture"
Former teacher. DR.. van
Straten has some definite
ideas on the current educa-
tional crisis and the emphasis
being laid on more science
training.
She thinks there is "a need
for more inspired teaching
and for a more disciplined
curriculum" But she's also
firmly Of the opinion that
mot all the answers are to
be found in science"
Science AmOral
as cience is essentially
amoral," she maintains. 1T
can be used for good or evil.
It certainly can be used to
make worse wars or an Eden
On earth. So in the final
analysis, the solution to the
worlds problems does not lie
fundamentally in science as
much as it does in human
relations"
In presenting her with the
scroll Of honorary member
ship in the Wives Wing yes
terday. Mrs. Newman noted
that DR., van Straten's work
has been on a global basis
and has had great influence
on the meteorological re-
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