It was a brief meeting on Monday for the members of the Associated Students Finance Committee. The first of the four new business items on the agenda was a request for $400 by the Beta Gamma Nu's Children's Halloween and Safety Clinic. The group asked for the money to help with transportation.

The Japanese Garden located near the Van Nuys Airport remains a secret to many. There is no sign indicating the splendor that awaits, yet it has been ranked the 10th best Japanese garden in North America by the Journal of Japanese Gardening. Dr. Koichi Kawana, who designed the garden in 1979, has also designed the botanical gardens at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the gardens of Balboa Park in San Diego and the Missouri Botanical Garden, the largest Japanese garden in the United States, according to the garden's website.

It has been more than four months since Los Angeles' beloved Griffith Park was scorched in a fire that burned more than 800 acres and destroyed about 25 percent of the park's natural habitat. The fire closed many of the public hiking trails and picnic areas.

The Associated Student Finance committee voted in favor Monday to help provide additional funds to the Chicano/a Graduate Student Association (CSGA) and their upcoming event, Communities en Movimiento Encunetro: Cultivating the Politics of Listening and Sharing.

A recent report released June 1 to the U.S. Congress could have California State University students without textbooks in their campuses' bookstore. The report, "Turn the Page: Making College Textbooks More Affordable," was released by the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance (ACSFA).