Dialing for Democracy   Fred Benenson's Committee Caller allows
Americans to participate in politics from the comfort of their
couch. The web-based system is a tool for calling one's
'favorite politician,' by automatically putting users in touch
with members of US House and Senate committees. Eliminating the
time spent on researching names and phone numbers--a task which
often dissuades voters from engaging in dialogue with their
representatives--Committee Caller invites visitors to enter
their phone number, select a committee, and click a button
labeled 'Put me in touch with democracy.' After that, they need
only wait for their phone to ring and they can cycle through
each of the designated politicos in a single round, even rating
their level of responsiveness, if so desired. Benenson, a
graduate student, came up with the idea after a frustrating
effort to track down and contact every member of the House
Committee on Education and Labor regarding an amendment that
would have limited on-campus privacy. He rea