Posted on May 1, 1997

Ted Goble


Ted Goble dies
Research Professor of Physics Alfred T. “Ted” Goble-honored last year by the College for his fifty consecutive years of service-died March 12 at his home in Schenectady. He was eighty-eight.

In an interview last year, Goble explained his continuing lively interest in physics this way:

“In science, two things happen. One, you get all the answers right and the theories work. Or two, things come out a little different than expected, and that's the exciting part.”

A native of River Falls, Wis., Goble received his bachelor's degree and Ph.D. in physics from the University of Wisconsin, where he also did postdoctoral research. He joined the Union faculty in 1945 for a nine-month position teaching physics for three on-campus Navy training programs.

As the nine months neared an end, a tenure track position became available, and Goble accepted.

Goble got involved in isotope shift measurement research during two sabbaticals at Oxford University. He continued his research after retiring from teaching in 1974, and his work (with colleague Seyfollah Maleki) led to three papers and presentations at professional conferences. For many years he was a consultant to the Air Force on the ballistic missile penetration program, intercontinental ballistic missile systems, and military satellites.

Goble was the advisor to WM., the College's amateur radio station, and remained an active “ham”-an amateur radio operator (he was first licensed as a ham in 1924).

He was a member of the American Physical Society and a founding member of the New York State chapter of the organization. He also was a member of the American Association of Physics Teachers, the Optical Society of America, and Sigma Xi, the national science and engineering honor society.

Survivors include his wife, Ethel Frank Goble;
three sons, Robert, of Brookline, Mass., Louis, of Eugene, Ore., and Jonathan, of Durham, N.C.; a sister, Carolyn Goble, of Charlotte, N.C.; a grandson; and two step-grandsons.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Physics Department at the College, Hospice of Schenectady, or the First Unitarian Society of Schenectady.


For the record
Teresa A. Meade, associate professor of history, is the author of “Civilizing” Rio: Reform and Resistance in a Brazilian City 18891930, a book published by the Pennsylvania State University Press.

A massive urban renewal and public health campaign in the first decades of the twentieth century transformed Brazil's capital into a showcase of European architecture and public works.

But for the majority of Rio's citizens-the laboring poor who were uprooted to live in squalor outside the city-life became worse. Meade's book focuses on their plight and their resistance to the “civilization” campaign. She also traces the popular rebellion that continued for more than twenty years after the renovation ended in 1909, illustrating that community protests are the major characteristics of political life in the modern era.


Board sets budget
The College's Board of Trustees has approved a 1997-98 budget of $74.1 million, about a 5.1 percent increase over the current year.

The budget includes an increase in tuition and fees of about one percent over inflation. The total will be $28,465, a 4.2 percent increase over this year.

The budget also continues the College's commitment to meet the financial need of all accepted students. The financial aid budget will increase to nearly $15.5 million, a 7.3 percent increase over this year.

Also approved was a continuation of deferred maintenance and facilities renewal, at $600,000 and $400,000, respectively