It’s a dreary Wednesday afternoon outside of Annenberg, and Undergraduate Council presidential candidate Luke R. Heine ’17’s inflatable pool has sprung a leak.

As Heine hurriedly patches the hole, his running mate Stephen A. Turban ’17 sprints across the Science Center Plaza, without his signature bowtie but clutching campaign flyers for the horde of students about to file out of Computer Science 50.

Aside from the unexpected leak, the pool works perfectly. It wins laughs, stares, and a photo with former Microsoft CEO Steven A. Ballmer ’77, who is visiting campus to announce a major donation. The pool is the latest in a series of stunts aimed to increase the ticket’s visibility, and Heine and Turban are basking in the attention.

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“This is what dreams are made of,” laughs Heine, applying a thick white coat of sunscreen to his nose.

Though they’re both veterans of the UC, Heine and Turban are emphasizing their differences from the rest of the Council. The two sophomores say the UC needs to remember its mission by focusing less on its internal parliamentary procedures and more on the students it supports.

POWER COUPLE

Heine, a computer science concentrator from Minnesota, and Turban, an economics concentrator from Missouri, met each other visiting Yale University’s program in Singapore when they were high school seniors. Both joined the UC during their freshman year, and both have been active in extracurricular life. Heine is a First-Year Outdoor Program leader, and Turban is a counselor with Room 13 and a teaching fellow for CS50.

Heine’s friends called him a natural leader whose enthusiasm is second to none.

Heine’s roommate, Matthew J. O’Connor ’17, said that Heine’s genuine devotion to the student body differentiates his ticket.

“Because he cares so much, he will dedicate the time [to the UC], has dedicated the time, and I imagine he will always do so,” O’Connor said.

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Turban’s friends praise his ability to seemingly give 100 percent of his energy to all his commitments.

“Whether it’s just getting an organization to be more efficient and run more smoothly or getting people to notice something, Stephen’s full of awesome ideas,” said Lily H. Zhang ’17, who worked with Turban to organize a multinational flash mob to raise awareness of malaria.

Dean of Freshmen Thomas A. Dingman ’67, whom both Heine and Turban cite as a mentor, said that the ticket shows promise “in a field of extraordinarily talented candidates.”