Get involved in the community. That is what Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price said to the House of Student Representatives during the Student Government Association meeting Tuesday. 

Price spoke to the House about the need for young people, especially university students, to get involved in the community because they would be the future leaders of the city.

“[Young people] can make or break Fort Worth,” she said.

Price also spoke about the university’s move to the Big 12 Conference and how it would help both the city and the university. The university’s success was the city’s success, she said. 

Transportation was also discussed at the meeting. There would be a focus on getting a rail from the university to the airport and circulator buses and bike lines around the campus, she said. 

In other business, House representatives passed three pieces of legislation and allocated $500 to the TCU Environmental Club.

House members unanimously passed a bill that would create a new House committee, the Student Experience Committee. According to the legislation, the new committee was created by combining the Campus Advancement and Student Relations committees, because both performed similar responsibilities.

The responsibilities of the new committee would be to seek out issues and concerns of undergraduate students and collect data from the student body on issues pertinent to student life, according to the legislation.

The new committee would also work on any projects such as physical improvements to the campus, service to students and student residential life, according to the legislation. The committee would also address other concerns that did not fall under the authority of other House committees.

The new committee would come into effect at the beginning of the 99th Session of the House, which begins in the next academic year, according to the legislation.

House representatives also passed a bill that allocated $4,265.50 to buy and install an ice dispenser in response to results from the student body survey, according to the legislation. Of more than 2,000 survey respondents, 49 percent said they would use an ice dispenser daily and 28 percent responded that they would use a dispenser weekly.

The ice dispenser would be put in Clark Hall to determine the feasibility of the idea, according to the legislation. 

House members passed the bill by a vote of 26-4 with three representatives not voting. 

House members also unanimously passed a resolution to support the establishment of Zipcar, which is a program that would provide a car sharing service to students who did not have vehicles. SGA and the university would not fund Zipcar, according to the legislation.   

Students who wanted to use Zipcar would pay for the program through a yearly membership and an hourly cost for using the car, according to the legislation.

House also allocated $500 to the TCU Environmental Club. The money would go toward buying plants for the Earth Day Celebration being held at the university Sunday. 

The plants, which cost $4 a plant, would be sold for $6. All proceeds would be donated to rainforest conservation groups, according to the legislation.