Richter is a nuclear engineering major who can usually be found in class, doing homework or playing Ultimate Frisbee.

High School
“I was always really good at math and physics. I never liked English and history. I had a high school teacher who was more like a friend, whom I remember fondly. She served as a supportive ear and I often went to chat with her between classes.” 

Interests
“Business minor – figured it might help me. I play Ultimate Frisbee, which I enjoy and is my passion.”

For fun
“I hang out at the bars or parties every weekend.”

Parental influence
“My parents are active Republican voters and often suggest that I should vote, too.”

View on Politics
“Negative. It’s boring and overrated.”

Discussion of Politics
“I don’t like discussing politics. Whenever such discussions take place among friends and family, I usually leave the room or do something else.”

Education on election
“Not much. I do not really watch the news or read the paper. I pick up the DI (the Daily Illini) but just to do the crossword puzzle and occasionally read the headlines. On TV, I usually watch sports and cartoons.”

Election coverage
“It is downright annoying. Too many commercials are aired. The constant bickering between candidates should decrease. It turns me off.”

Issues
“I am (pro-abortion rights) as far as abortion is concerned and I (support same-sex marriage). As far as the war in Iraq goes, getting Saddam out was a good thing, but the war could have been carried out in a better way without the loss of so many soldiers.”

Important issues the election is going to turn on
“Foreign affairs, the economy and the candidates’ political experiences.”

Economy
“In my opinion, it usually does better under the Republicans.”

Apathy
“The election process is almost religious. I went to a Catholic school where they tell you God is great and Jesus loves you, etc. If you aren’t religious enough, you are damned. With the political system, you have to be a Democrat or a Republican to sort of fit in. People act like voting is your duty to America, and I don’t like people telling me what to do and kind of shoving it down my throat. I guess you could call me a kind of rebel. That is why I don’t believe in the system and I don’t vote.”

Party system
“If there was a multiparty system and people would stop saying go this or that way, I might actually care to be informed and make an educated vote for a different party.”

Inspiration
“Competitive spirit drives me.”

Ambition
“Master’s in nuclear engineering and get a job in the city, probably not Washington D.C., which is too political.” 

Measure of success
“My happiness.”

Dream
“My dream is to be on the Olympic team for Ultimate Frisbee.”

Role Model
“Steve Jobs. He managed to still turn Apple into a major corporation even after Bill Gates essentially stole his idea.”

Involvement
“I am not going to vote because I don’t believe I can make an educated decision with the little information I have about two issues. I am lazy. I just don’t care to be informed about the issues surrounding the candidate. I am more practical and I think there is more I can do with my time than surfing for education on issues.”

Friends on Cole
“Young people have a voice and opinion on issues; it is really important for him to vote and make a difference. I have not even been able to open his mind and make him debate about issues. He just says he doesn’t care. He is really smart, and I see him being successful, but I don’t understand why politics doesn’t affect him now. Maybe later on in life he will start to care about it. ”
– Jessy Whitish, a friend from high school

“I can’t really say much about why he doesn’t vote, but I think he is just so busy and it’s sometimes frustrating to read about politics. People don’t spend enough time reading about it, and therefore, they don’t have enough information to make an educated vote. He doesn’t see the direct effect of politics.”
– Steve Schenk, fellow University of Illinois student

“I agree with Cole. It is ridiculous that you don’t see a campaign out there that isn’t mudslinging. Why should we bother to care about the election when candidates are just saying that the other one sucks and berating what one person did and didn’t do without thinking of looking at themselves first?”
– Aaron Raulin, Cole’s best friend from Minnesota.

“When Cole told me that he wasn’t going to vote, I talked to him. He explained to me that the choices offered to him were not good enough and that he feels like he doesn’t really have a voice in this decision-making process. I told him that sometimes you have to make a choice between the lesser or the better of the two. I think, however, that Cole is on the right path and eventually he will voice an opinion that is not an abstention of a vote. He doesn’t see politics as entering his day-to-day life. ”
– Ellen Richter, Cole’s mother