How can young people grow up to be good citizens of the global village? One way is through contact with people and concerns outside their immediate neighborhood. Global Nomads Group, a nonprofit organization, uses videoconferencing to help students cross boundaries.

Global Nomads' PULSE program brings U.S. high schools together with each other and with experts on global issues. The first session this fall, "Landmines: Rats to the Rescue," focuses on the problem of landmines, and explores a de-mining program in Mozambique that uses rats to "sniff out" landmines and clear land. Six other topics are scheduled for the remainder of 2006: oil dependence and global warming, immigration, nuclear weapons, HIV/AIDS, malaria, and genocide in Sudan. PULSE is using videoconferencing equipment from Polycom.