About 30 students and faculty from Redlands and a similar number from Russia's Far Eastern State University and the Vladivostok State University of Economics and Service participated in the conference designed to fuel discussion about government-citizen interaction in both countries.

The video conference was organized by University of Redlands government and international relations professor Graeme Auton, who had recently returned from a Fulbright trip to the Russian Far East, and by the U.S. Consulate General in Vladivostok.

Students and faculty on both sides of the camera peppered their counterparts with questions that explored illegal immigration, the war in Iraq, sentiments about President Bush and youth political involvement and job opportunities. There was discussion about life and changes in Russia. And the weather.

The 1 1/2 hour conference took place after recent Russian mid-term elections in the Duma, that nation's legislative body, and one week after the November elections in the U.S.

"Twenty years ago, during the Soviet era, never would this conference have occurred," Auton said. It shows "there is a very strong interest in Russia and America understanding each other, even though we obviously don't always agree."