The event was also covered by local and regional newspapers:

THE SUN: San Bernardino County's Newspaper
February 28, 2001

C-SPAN tapes local author
By Leigh Woosley
Staff Writer
VICTORVILLE -- When Daniel Jeffs wanted to launch his new book advocating that America needs more democracy, he could have gone for the big time... But the 61-year-old Jeffs chose a school just miles from his Apple Valley residence, Victor Valley Community College, because it's "home."

Jeffs lectured and fielded questions Tuesday from a roomful of about 20 students about his book, "America's Crisis: The Direct Democracy and Direct Education Solution."

"This is awesome, said Dusty Sutton, a 31-year-old student. "Anything that contributes to the community college and brings it up to a university level is beneficial."

Jeffs arrival on campus was the first time an author has visited the college's political science department -- accompanied by a television camera. As he stepped to the podium, electricity shot through the room... Jeffs spoke quietly about the hotbutton issues woven throughout his book.

Jeffs claims that more democracy is the answer to an Amerca where the everyday citizen is under the thumb of bureaucrats who control government. "We're not masters of our domain in America anymore. The way it is now, everything is taken out of our hands," Jeffs said to students and the C-SPAN camera. "We are not longer a democracy, and we're not even a republic. We're much more of a bureaucracy."

He proposed returning power to the people with voting networks in every American home used to elect "nonpartisan government managers" rather than "professional politicians..." If Jeffs' proposal came to fruition, political parties would be erased and citizens would cast their ballots from the living room or kitchen or over the Internet or cable television. Those citizens, acting like any employer, would have the chance -- every year or so -- to keep or can government officials all the way from town hall to the White House.

It's called "direct democracy," and if people are given enough true information, Jeffs said, they can make correct and sound decisions, however "Pollyanna or naive" it sounds.

But only one student hesitantly raised his hand when Jeffs asked who would trust their fellow Americans to make the right choices. Students did not hedge, though, to ask Jeffs questions. There wasn't enough time to answer them all...

But whether students agreed to disagreed with Jeffs, his presence was priceless, political science professor Dave Dupree said. "It's a great opportunity. He (Jeffs) is a believer in community colleges," Dupree said. "The fact is that the world has come to us. ...That's something we don't see very often."

DAILY PRESS (Victorville) covering the Victor Valley
February 28, 2001

Local writer proposes direct elections
Politics: College presentation attracts TV crew from C-SPAN
. By Ellie Moon
Staff Writer

VICTORVILLE -- A local author proposed a seismic shift today toward a direct democracy, and C-SPAN was there to let America watch.

Daniel B. Jeffs wants one vote for each eligible voter in America, and none of this Electoral College business. His idea picked up steam since fall's presidential election debacle in which the nation waited weeks for the Supreme Court to determine the next president.

Jeffs presented his ideas and his new book, "America's Crisis: The Direct Democracy and Direct Education Solution," to a collection of about 50 history and civics students at Victor Valley Community College on Tuesday afternoon.

It was the first time for such a presentation there, and the first time an international cable company took notice. Jeffs said producers at C-SPAN 2 told him the segment should run as part of its Sunday "Book TV" program in about 3 weeks...

He chose to talk about the book at VVC rather than a larger university, "Because it's my hometown college. This is my community."

(Student) Kris Reilly said he thought Jeffs had some good ideas, but they would be tough to implement. The most appealing idea for Reilly was the standardized voting system. "Obviously, that would have helped in the national election," he said.

(Student) Tayari Kuanda emphasized there are a lot of intelligent and responsible citizens in the country. "I do believe in the basic decency of people and I believe that we as a nation are evolving into that.

One of the students pointed out a potential problem of disbanding the Electoral College -- uneven representation of urban versus rural areas, allowing cities to make all the rules.

"The big states would carry it anyway," Jeffs argued, "because even the Electoral College bases representation on population." He also advocates scaling back political control from Republicans and Democrats, to govern without party lines.

"The system of those two factions have too much control and that hurts us," he said. "The people know that. That's why they're drifting away from it."

David Dupree, a VVC professor, said he was glad to bring diverse political views to the classroom. "It's not the usual way of looking at politics and we need to experience that," he said.

Still, he had his own doubts about Jeffs' contentions. "It's a huge undertaking for people to get educated and vote as if they were running the Legislature," he said. "I'm not convinced that more voting will bring people out of apathy. In fact, the argument can be made that people will get tired out with too much democracy."

But Jeffs is a realist, too. He understands that it would take a constitutional amendment for such a change.

FOUNDER'S NOTE: What the newspaper reporters failed to grasp was how direct democracy would actually work, and that even though the students didn't think their fellow citizens could handle it now, they agreed that if voting networks and direct democracy were in place, and voters were truthfully and fully informed, they would participate because it would be in their self interest to do so.

In terms of voter turnout for an Internet voting network, the students were impressed with a current U.S. News & World Report article reporting that. "In 2000, Arizona voted for Democratic presidential candidates over the Internet., and 77,000 people turned out, compared with 12,000 in the previous primary. E-voting's appeal has lured the big boys. In addition to VoteHere's $10 million deal with Cisco Systems and Compaq Unisy and Dell are developing E-voting systems."