PIP: Statements solicited by Utne Reader editors from 12 environmentalists, scientists, feminists, and social activists reflect both a sense of urgency for effective action to address rapid population growth and recognition of the need for change in the political and economic power structures of many societies. Several contributors urge ecological activists to broaden their perspective to consider the psychological and cultural factors, especially women's subordinate social status, that contribute to the persistence of large family size in developing countries. Ways in which population has been a divisive issue for feminists and people of color are addressed in several essays. Others note that developing countries have been denied the opportunity to experience a clear-cut demographic transition and the attendant increase in living standards. Also addressed by numerous contributors is the controversy unleashed by a 1987 article in Earth First: asserting that AIDS may be the earth's own protective response to overpopulation and ecological imbalances.