Word: boom
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...land to be exploited for all it was worth. At first the lure was furs, and then whaling, timber and fishing. When the U.S. bought the territory from Russia in 1867 for $7 million, little changed. The gold rushes of the late 1800s brought hordes of prospectors, beginning a boom-and-bust cycle that continues to this day. Says Celia Hunter, a lodge keeper who came to the territory 42 years ago: "Alaskans have always looked for the big bang that would solve all their problems." Some development schemes were downright absurd. In the late 1950s, Hunter helped quash...
...biggest boom of all began in 1968, when enormous quantities of oil were discovered at Prudhoe Bay. In 1969 the state held an auction for oil-drilling leases and suddenly found itself $900 million richer. Almost overnight, tens of thousands of Americans followed the advice in the chorus of the Johnny Horton pop tune, "North to Alaska! Go north -- the rush is on!" The state began to fill with drilling crews, geologists and oil-company executives. The barren North Slope, where only a few Inupiat, or Eskimos, had lived, now bristled with hard-hatted workers who were hardy enough...
...plan, Healy warns that although the city is in "strong shape fiscally" now, it may face severe restraints soon, as well as cuts in programs and services. "The boom years of the 1980s have come to an end, and while our economy remains strong, it will not grow at the rate of recent years," Healy wrote...
...latter-day art boom was fostered by Roman Catholic missionaries. Among them were Brother Marc-Stanislas Wallenda from Belgium, who founded Kinshasa's Academy of Fine Arts in 1943, and Father Kevin Carroll of Ireland, who in the same era came to work among Nigerian craftsmen. Most white missionary bishops back then, Carroll recalls, "thought we were wasting time." Political independence and the increase of black clergy accelerated the process that European Christians call adaptation or inculturation, meaning the incorporation of local culture into Christianity. Today Nigeria has Africa's largest corps of artists and artisans, and Zaire probably boasts...
Some ranchers are uneasy about their new neighbors. Says one cattleman: "They seem to be interested in buying the best spreads and the bigger processors." But ranchers generally welcome the Japanese beef boom because the export sales will help revive a depressed industry. Per capita beef consumption in the U.S. has fallen from 94.2 lbs. in 1976 to 72.7 lbs. last year. The Japanese investment should also be a boon for Americans who sell supplies and expertise to the new beef barons. Says John Morse, president of Selkirk Ranch: "The Japanese are willing to pay a premium for people...