From Maher with Love
Student Body President Ayden Maher
Today, current Student Body President Ayden Maher was an hour away from becoming the second person in FAU history to be reelected.
Long story short: yesterday the Elections Board debated over the two original complaints they had decided to look into, complaints number 1, and 3 (refer to my previous post).
The Elections Board decided to disqualify Christopher Puchferran and his running mate Joseph Birkman for complaint number 3. But Puchferran took this decision to the Student Court, and he placed an appeal just before deadline ended.
This means that the Court will have a meeting next week to decide whether or not they want to look into Puchferran’s appeal. I’ll write more in detail about this after the Court meeting.
Now, let’s get into what this blog post is really about.
One of the complaints that Maher placed to the Elections Board argued Puchferran’s supporters were harassing people in the Breezeway during the elections—but some think it may have been the other way around.
Michael Buonaiuto, also known as Green Mann, supported Puchferran. He said he felt harassed and offended by Maher and his supporters through the Internet during the campaigning process.
These are transcripts from private messages or Facebook posts from Maher and his supporters to Green Mann. Some of the messages were posted on Green Mann’s wall, others on Maher’s or on Maher supporters’ walls.
Maher was also given the chance to provide any material he felt was harrasing or harmful toward him or his supporters. He didn’t.
On Feb. 15 at 11:08 p.m., Maher sent Green Mann this private message on Facebook:
“Using your followers to support a campaign with no experience is merely unethical. They have no experience and if you attended the debates tonight to watch your friends you would see they are inadequate to serve the interests of the students.”
In another private message on Feb. 21 at 8:02 p.m. Buonaiuto responded to Maher:
“Hi Ayden,
Can you please cease posting “vote for ayden” on my wall and let your supporters know as well?
Thanks,
Green Mann”
Maher quickly followed up. First with a message at 8:05 p.m.:
“Hey Green Mann,
Could you stop using your following supporting a candidate with no experience. Who’s supporters are extremely rude to mine and the other candidates.
After all you are Green Mann and students love you! So they should know about all the candidates.
P.S. I am not telling my supporters to do anything. The students are calling for actual results not awesome dance marathons
Warm regards,
Ayden”
And then another message at 8:09 p.m.:
“Not trying to be rude buddy. But the people in the breezeway were extremely disrespectful to us today.
“I’m not trying to wage a war either but just asking to play the game fair. None the Less, have a good night green mann..”
Even when he seems to be trying to sound intimidating, Maher can’t help but to be charming and nice.
But his supporters may not be as respectful.
When Maher wrote on his wall:
“Green Mann doesn’t stand for anything. VOTE! Ayden Maher & Robert Huffman for Student Body President & VP. The only people running who care about FAU and have a real plan.”
One of his followers, Samantha Ann, who’s listed as Maher’s friend on Facebook and was displaying a Maher/Huffman campaing photo, commented on the post:
“Aren’t we sick of seeing Green Mann dance??? he’s all sweaty and gross and the funs over now that we know who he is, its just kinda creepy now. GO GREEN for real and stick with Ayden!!!”
Ann also wrote this message on Green Mann’s wall:
“cool green mann your awesome, selling c votes for amount of hours youll dance? how about you support fau and things students actually NEED. we’re all capable of dancing we dont need you in a green suit to do it for us.
DANCE monkeyy DANCE!
what do you stand for?! oh right… yourself, vote Ayden & Robert for real things that matter.”
Scott Drouet, also friends with Maher on Facebook, posted this on Green Mann’s wall:
“green man sucks d*ck!!!”
(It was the actual word)
Becky Thibodeaux, another Maher Facebook friend, who, like the other two was displaying a Maher campaign picture, posted this message on Green Mann’s wall:
“green mann, everyone knows this was a ploy so you could run the school…you didn’t meet the grade requirement so you told puch to run so you could control it behind the scenes. you don’t mean anything since you revealed yourself. so students of fau,
if you want a liar and an uninformed idiot for president vote for puch,
but if you want someone who actually cares about fau and the students vote ayden maher and robert huffman!!!!!”
Maher supporter and Facebook friend Tathia MomPremier wrote this on Maher’s Facebook wall:
Attention: FAU students by now you may have heard it all “Vote for this guy Green Mann will dance for you” or “vote that guy and ill act like a clown for you.”
DON’T YOU WANT TO VOTE FOR SOMEONE WHO CARES? someone who knows how to spend your money on the things that interest YOU? someone who LISTENS to your suggestions and opinions. Someone who has the experience and the motivation to take care of YOU? then VOTE! Ayden Maher & Robert Huffman for Student Body President & VP, and Ryan Ebanks for Boca campus Governor. So waht will you do? settle for cheap amusement or will you VOTE Ayden Maher & Robert Huffman for Student Body President & VP and Ryan Ebanks for Boca Campus Governor and take your first step to a better university. FAU is our home , its government is CLOWN FREE and we want the best man for the job. P.S. a studnet who cares. Voting starts tonight on myfau, click on the vote tab”
All these people say they are FAU students on their Facebook profiles.
Whether it was out of ignorance, laziness, or because he was too busy, I still can’t fathom why Puchferran didn’t make a complaint about this to the Elections Board.
Now it’s too late for that. Or is it?
OwlWatch 
March 26, 2011 at 8:32 am
why? thats all i want to know sergio. why is this post mostly about mildly harassing emails. there arent any threats of violence students were just speaking their mind. They guy who said green man sucks D*ck (I wouldnt want you to censor my post again) is the worst offender. this has to be the worst update ever on this site. who gives a flying fluck that people who supported ayden were telling people not to vote for the other candidates and why they shouldnt.. umm isnt that what theyre supposed to do?!?! this is a campaign your gunna have people getting heated, in my time at this university ive seen and participated in many elections and this kind of shit always happens but never has a journo tried to spin a story from ‘supporters acting like they support someone’ which is what really happened, to where you have the story now ‘maher supporters harass other supporters’. you know why puch didnt bring this shit up as an appeal? becasue he knows he would be laughed at trying to pass those emails off as harassment. opinion does not equal harassment, its this little thing called the first amendment, refer to the US constitution if your not familiar.
You sir Sergio are a spin doctor and a very poor one at that. dont just throw a story up there cus we’re begging for updates.
March 26, 2011 at 9:49 am
Love the photo
March 26, 2011 at 10:08 am
From this article we need to take away the point Ayden was trying to make. To keep Green Mann from campaigning for Puch/Birkman, .”Could you stop using your following supporting a candidate with no experience.”
He said that the candidates “are inadequate to serve the interests of the students.” I am sure that Puch/Birkman meet the GPA requirements to run and are not in the election by a fluke.
If Ayden was filing a complaint about Green Mann “verbally & physically harassing” students (I heard the testimony was from his lady-friend saying that in the cafeteria Green Mann waved his arms and pointed to his shirt in front of their table….shocking) why can’t Puch/Birkman file a complaint for the “green mann, everyone knows this was a ploy so you could run the school…you didn’t meet the grade requirement so you told puch to run so you could control it behind the scenes. you don’t mean anything since you revealed yourself. so students of fau, if you want a liar and an uninformed idiot for president vote for puch”. LIAR and UNINFORMED IDIOT are clear forms of harassment.
Violations of code of conduct:
(5n) Acts of verbal, written (including electronic communications) or physical abuse, threats, intimidation, harassment, coercion or other conduct which threaten the health, safety or welfare of any person.
March 26, 2011 at 12:59 pm
the words “liar” and “uninformed idiot” do not have any element of verbal, written, or physical abuse, a threat, intimidation, harassment, coercion or other conduct that threatens the health safety or welfare of anyone. they are merely the opinions of one person about another persons integrity and intelligence. nobody said “puch is an uniformed idiot and if u vote for him in going to punch you in the face or key your car” that would be harassment and a threat and intimidation and coercion that threatened the health safety and welfare of someone. a supporter offering an opinion about the other is not harassment but campaigning.
March 26, 2011 at 2:03 pm
Let’s just have a run-off and be done with this already.
March 26, 2011 at 2:14 pm
Thank you Jon! Thank you so much.
This is so petty…
And Sergio, please stop with the ridiculous titles and pictures. The title “Gay and Mad” and the picture you used for that was already horrible enough for the year.
March 26, 2011 at 2:17 pm
well..the picture placement was horrible…not the picture!
March 26, 2011 at 2:46 pm
Dear Jen,
I didn’t come up with the headline:”Gay and Mad,” if you have any complaints about that please talk to our editor-in-chief; writers don’t write headlines and I was a writer at the time.
Also, I don’t design the stories. If you don’t like the picture placement you should talk to our art director.
Jon,
I agree with you, that was the whole point of the previous post. The elections are a tedious process that take very long.
The point of this post is that those emails and wall posts were at least “good enough” for Puchferran to bring up to the Elections Board and it’s weird that he didn’t do it, and he regrets it, I’ve talked to him.
Whether the Elections Board would have found cause for the complaint, that’s a whole different thing.
If Maher accused Puchferran’s supporters of harasement (contestation #1), Puchferran could have done the same thing. Maher supporters (and Maher himself) were posting what could be considered for some offensive messages on Green Mann’s wall (a Puchferran supporter).
If you read carefully I’m not saying that I believe the emails/messages are harassment, but that Michael Buonaiuto (Green Mann) felt he was being harassed.
Thank you all for reading,
Sergio
March 26, 2011 at 2:56 pm
Since when is it ok for one candidate to contact students privately and tell them their support of another candidate is “merely unethical”
“Using your followers to support a campaign with no experience is merely unethical.”
This falls directly under intimidation outlined in the student code of ethics and should be looked into by Student Government as well as Student Affairs.
Whether what Maher’s supporters did to GreenMann is considered harassment or not, Maher’s actions are inexcusable and 100% fall in the category of intimidation.
March 26, 2011 at 3:03 pm
You get intimidated by someone saying you lack experience and telling you that they think your actions are unethical?
Grow a pair.
March 26, 2011 at 4:10 pm
Dear Sergio,
I have been waiting to read an article from you that is fair, just, and well represented. Why did you just use a photo of only Maher that was taken BEFORE he was elected?
I guess I am just asking for articles that represent everyone and that have a specific point. What is your point? That Maher is not being mean, but his supporters are?
Truthfully, I was very upset when I saw Green Mann’s invitation for a dance marathon to vote for Puchferran. These are the things that should be posted. What do the students think? The unofficial mascot at my school wasn’t telling people to vote because he felt that the person could help the university, but that he, himself, would dance? I specifically asked Puchferran’s campaigners if they would tell me the organizations and clubs that he represented….you know what I got? LAUGHTER. I asked how he felt about certain issues, and I was told that those issues were outside the realm of FAU. Really? That’s funny…because I work with those issues EVERYDAY at FAU. EVERY SINGLE DAY.
It scared me. You know why? Because I care about FAU. I care about my university. I volunteer everyday with students to make their lives better….and I get LAUGHTER when I ask what clubs and organizations that Puchferran is a member of?
You know why people were saying those things to Green Mann? Because they are students that CARE and WORK at making FAU a better place. They, like me, were scared at the thought of someone representing my school that couldn’t tell me what organizations and clubs they supported.
If you want a good article, start asking what the students at FAU think. That would be a great start. 🙂 I spend my time volunteering, and would love to tell you why I supported Ayden because that is very simple.
Jen
March 26, 2011 at 5:08 pm
Dear Jen,
I don’t know how many of my stories you’ve read to come to the conclusion that they are not “fair.” Either way, it’s your opinion and I respect it.
This is a blog post, not a news story. But Ayden Maher was asked to submit any material he thought was harassing toward him or his supporters. He didn’t submit anything, that’s why there are no emails/messages from the other side of the issue.
I used that photo from Maher because I wanted to. Like I said, this is a blog post.
I mentioned the point of this blog post in my previous comment, I’ll quote it here for you again:
“The point of this post is that those emails and wall posts were at least “good enough” for Puchferran to bring up to the Elections Board and it’s weird that he didn’t do it, and he regrets it, I’ve talked to him.
Whether the Elections Board would have found cause for the complaint, that’s a whole different thing.
If Maher accused Puchferran’s supporters of harasement (contestation #1), Puchferran could have done the same thing. Maher supporters (and Maher himself) were posting what could be considered for some offensive messages on Green Mann’s wall (a Puchferran supporter).
If you read carefully I’m not saying that I believe the emails/messages are harassment, but that Michael Buonaiuto (Green Mann) felt he was being harassed.”
Again, that was the point of this blog post.
The issue about Green Mann dancing for votes was addressed by me in this story: http://www.upressonline.com/green-mann-banned-from-campus-1.2479637
Ayden Maher actually used my story and part of the Florida statutes that I quoted in the story to form one of his complaints (Complaint 3).
That complaint ultimately got Puchferran and Birkman disqualified. It’s in the third paragraph of this blog post.
I admire your passion and dedication for FAU and I think it was wrong and disrespectful if they laughed in your face. But if you read the elections issue I wrote last month, you would know that neither Puchferran nor Birkman are part of any clubs or organizations on campus. They elections issue came out the week before elections. They also said it during the debate.
Here’s the story: http://www.upressonline.com/elect-your-leader-1.2468311
Whether students CARE and WORK at making FAU a better place, that doesn’t mean they should tell a person “suck my d*ck” “clown” or “monkey”. That’s my opinion.
Sergio
March 26, 2011 at 6:13 pm
Who cares about Green mann??? What has he done for FAU? What does he stand for? I’m glad Ayden is our student body president and will be again!! He’s worked very hard on behalf of the students of FAU and he truly cares about making FAU a better place. All Green Mann does is dance, disturb class rooms and tried to use his following to run for SG President himself. When he didn’t have the GPA requirement to do so he had his best friend run! HAHAHA Green Mann you are a pitiful excuse for a person who hides behind a green spandex suit.
March 27, 2011 at 1:57 pm
What is unethical or “wrong” about a local celebrity endorsing a candidate? Crappy country and rock musicians do it all the time with crappy U.S. presidential candidates.
March 27, 2011 at 3:37 pm
I attended those debates and they looked like they merely whomped your ass. Stop pushing your glasses up when you talk four eyes.
March 27, 2011 at 5:05 pm
the Ayden vs Greenman situation is completly misguided in post.
The issue was this.
Innitially the greenman had claimed to be some sort of enviormental stint to being awareness or what ever else he was claiming. While that’s fine, he as far as i know knows nothing about the enviorment and has never done anything for mission green or the enviorment. On the other hand Ayden was the vice-president of Mission Green, he’s been apart of the sierra club, and help work on a national campaighn for the green party.
The reason that so many of Ayden’s fb friends had become enraged was because you had a self proclaimed mascot recruit mass amounts of fau students under false pretences of enviormental awareness and then redirect those same students towards student government canadates that had no enviormental concerns.
While the Puchfernnan campaighn was very idealistic under this vote for someone who’s not a student goverment person idea it faulsly pretensive, Ayden was only canadate even remotly qualified for the job and not just due to his student government experience also because of the legistature that hes worked for.
Ayden vowed to have our school as a presence in making sure that state legislation would vote against increases in tution and stuck to that. every student involved in rally to tally.
Can you say that any other canidate would have dont the same ?
March 27, 2011 at 6:17 pm
Your English is about as good as your logic. Campaighn, legistature, Innitially …Really? Is this the new spell-check generation? Why did they start going after Green Mann when he supported them? Anyone can represent the student body as long as they are voted in by the student body. Don’t you think that everyone who votes for a candidate thinks the same as you and that the candidate they vote for is the most qualified? Btw sierra club is full of money begging hippies, and the whole mission green thing is a way to make people look good. The real “solution” is in science, not in asking unknowing college students to sign a petition or give you 15 dollars for something they don’t much care about. This has nothing to do with Green Mann it is the same as Ayden using the men’s basketball team to get him votes.
March 28, 2011 at 11:38 am
I thought the Student Body President and his counsel of advisors should be encouraging his students that promote individualism and creativity. The current SGA seems to be bent on destroying this student because of his individuality. It appears racist. While Green Mann was performing on campus, dancing and making people smile, I remember full support from the Dean’s office down to the janitors and including the President! I could be mistaken but they were all there cheering when the kid revealed himself. Now the very same people that laughed and enjoyed Green Mann is a lynching mob! I smell fear from the incumbents camp!!!
March 28, 2011 at 12:42 pm
Is Maher in bed with the entire administration? How high does the corruption go?
March 29, 2011 at 9:33 am
HAHA yea mark, racists.. against green people i presume?
and everyone was supporting and cheering for green mann while he was an entertainer supposedly trying to push an environmental agenda. It all comes out in the wash however and green manns lack of knowledge or involvement in the environmental movement basically outed himself. combine that with him pushing his supporters toward an inexperienced campaign and bribing students with his dancing skills to get them to vote for that campaign is what makes him an issue in this election.
@mr drupheo, your logic is flawed. Politicized musicians dont offer to give free concerts to those who vote for their candidates, that would be a bribe, much like offering to dance if you vote for someone. Case closed, Puch loses. I actually have a life motto that could have helped you here Puch, ‘never take advice from a guy in a spandex suit’
April 28, 2011 at 12:46 pm
New guy, where art thou? SG spent over 100K on various bills and no update on either of them? What exactly are you watching and keeping an eye over?
April 28, 2011 at 2:04 pm
Dear Amie,
I’m waiting on House Speaker Boris Bastidas to send me the April 8th Agenda so I can post a report on the House’s allocations for this semester. The House allocated around $190,000. Please bear with me, I’ll post it soon. Thanks for reading.
Sergio
April 30, 2011 at 12:26 pm
Amie,
The House of Representatives for Boca Raton had a budget of $193,000 this year, which was $92,000, we’ve passed bills all year, and currently after all the money for the bills are paid for, we will have just over $24,000 left, that we can still use up to June 30th. We’ve funded part of Stress Week, programs and events, and renovations for the Student Union, among other things. If you would like information on bills we’ve passed, you can go on the SG website, however not all of the bills are posted there yet (they will be very soon) Also you are always welcome to come to the SG Office (Rm 215 in the Student Union) and I could provide you with a full list of all the bills we passed this year. Otherwise yes, I’m sure that Sergio will be writing an article about it all soon, since the year is obviously coming to a close.
Thanks much,
Boris Bastidas
House Speaker
Boca Raton House of Reps
April 30, 2011 at 12:28 pm
I made a typo and left something out, in the second sentence I meant to type “which was $92,000 more than last year”
– Boris
May 1, 2011 at 10:37 pm
Mysterious room 215 holds all the answers…
May 15, 2011 at 4:40 pm
What’s happening with the Grand Palm Room? I heard something about 1/3rd of it being sectioned off. Is this to create a dedicated Game Room there, as Brian Kientz originally proposed? Because the Game Room people are pissed about losing their space to a barbershop.