Help prioritise the allocation of the Student Services and Amenities (SSA) fee in 2013 by completing this quick survey.

The SSA fee was introduced to increase student support and services. This includes the continued support and improvement of the extracurricular aspects of student life, provided by the University in partnership with your student organisations. Take the survey now.

Please visit the SSA fee website for more information, and keep an eye on your student email account for further updates. 

To see how the current allocations are being used, or to comment on the suggested priorities of the student organisations, contact your student organisations.

Meeting global food demand, reducing traffic congestion, better mental health care, real gender equality, rights for refugee children – what matters to you?

Over the last two months you’ve visited our ‘What Matters’ website to vote on the importance of issues as diverse as social media’s influence on democracy, plain-packaging for cigarettes, the politics of climate change and more. Five new topics have been added this month, featuring experts from the University’s community who will participate in online Q&A sessions:

• Professor John Crawford – Good soil, good food, good health
• Professor Ian Hickie – Breaking the silence on mental health
• Julie McKay – This is a man and a woman’s world
• Professor Mary Crock – Compassion works for refugee children
• Professor David Hensher – Getting from A to B with less stress

Have your say on what matters to you – vote, share and take part in the discussion today.

Emails asking the recipient to ‘reset’ UniKey passwords or ‘validate’ UniKey or email accounts are fake – do not respond or click on links contained in these messages.

The University will never ask you to provide private information by direct response to an email.

If you have received and responded to a phishing email, you should reset your UniKey password immediately and contact the ICT Helpdesk on 9351 6000. For tips on how to identify phishing attacks, visit the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) website.

Upgrade your SkyDrive account from 7GB to 25GB free storage. 

SkyDrive now includes a desktop app for Mac and Windows, enabling you to upload files up to 2GB in size (previously limited to 100MB), and automatically sync folders from your computer.

For a limited time, you can also increase your storage limit to 25GB by logging into your Sydney Mail account.

For more information on SkyDrive, please visit the Student IT website.

Help researchers understand the way audiences respond to news stories about alcohol.

Participation involves watching four news stories, then discussing what you have seen with a group. All participants will be compensated for their time.

Please contact Andrea Fogarty in the School of Public Health on 9114 1227 if you are interested.

Do you have a close relative who is depressed?

First-degree relatives (parents, siblings or children) of people with major depression (unipolar) are needed for this study. Participants must be in good health, aged between 18 and 65, and not have experienced depression themselves.

Participation will involve approximately six hours of voluntary assessments including an MRI scan, EEG recording (both non-invasive brain measures), computer-based activities, questionnaires, and a blood test. You will be reimbursed for your time.

If you are interested in participating or would like more information please contact Joanne Carpenter on 9845 8179. Thank you to all who have participated so far.

Deficient empathic skills are a core diagnostic feature of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). However, the instruments for measuring empathy in normally intelligent individuals with ASD are limited.

Various new instruments and approaches will be discussed at this talk, which will also highlight the need to specify the definition of empathy. Presented by Dr Sander Begeer, School of Psychology.

Event details
What: 3.30pm, Friday 8 June
Where: Level 5 Lecture Theatre, 94 Mallett Street, Camperdown

As momentum builds in this presidential election year, debates about reproductive rights, equality, and the general wellbeing of women are emerging as key campaign issues.

This informative and thought-provoking Sydney Ideas forum will feature:

• George Pullman, Professor of Rhetoric at Georgia State University
• Leola Reis, Vice-President of External Affairs for Planned Parenthood
• University of Sydney academics Dr Benjamin Miller, Dr Rebecca Sheehan, and Dr Susan Thomas.

Event details
When: 4pm, Friday 8 June
Where: Foyer, New Law Building, Camperdown Campus
Cost: free, no registration required

For more information, visit the Sydney Ideas website.

What are Australia’s industries doing to help? Can they or should they do more?

If you have questions for Professor Crawford, send them to what.matters@sydney.edu.au, or post them in the comments section of his 'What Matters' page for him to answer during this live online forum.

Event details
When: 12pm, Wednesday 13 June
Where: What Matters website

Was ‘popular rhapsody’ the ‘rapping’ of ancient China?

The ‘popular rhapsody’ is a completely different genre from the traditional rhapsody in Chinese literature. The discovery of the popular rhapsody reveals it was a ‘rapping’ literature among ancient Chinese people, prevailing in people's lives, and spreading by ‘chanting’ and ‘singing’. This seminar examines the discovery and developments of the ‘popular rhapsody’ and its intricate relationships with other genres in Chinese literature.

Event details
When: 11am to 12pm, Thursday 14 June
Where: Room 524, Brennan MacCallum Building Common Room, Camperdown Campus
No RSVP is required

What can we do to further de-stigmatise mental health issues in this country?
How soon before we see new internet-based technologies being used to treat mental health problems?

If you have questions for Professor Hickie, send them to what.matters@sydney.edu.au, or post in the comments section of his 'What Matters' page for him to answer during this live online forum.

Event details
When: 12pm, Thursday 15 June
Where: What Matters website

What is the relationship between geography, urbanisation and higher education in China today?

Join this China Studies Centre distinguished speaker lecture, presented by Carolyn Cartier, Professor of Human Geography and China Studies in the China Research Centre at the University of Technology, Sydney.

Professor Cartier is an urban geographer and research designer working in social theory and China studies. Her research program concerns understanding the process of urban development in China and Hong Kong from perspectives on spatial transformation behind the spectacle of rapid growth. Her work gives particular attention to the uses of theoretical geography for research on cities and regions in China, and the complexities of research practice in the international academy.

Event details
When: 6pm, Tuesday 19 June
Where: Foyer, New Law Building, Camperdown Campus
Cost: free

For more information, visit the Sydney Ideas website.

Do the environmental humanities hold the key to future conservation and management issues? 

Professor Poul Holm from Trinity College Dublin will present on his involvement with a ten-year research project on the History of Marine Animal Populations in his Sydney Ideas lecture ‘Fishing matters: historical perspectives on the impacts of fisheries on ecosystems and human societies’.

The project has involved a collaborative effort by 15 region or species-specific interdisciplinary research teams of historians, archaeologists, and ecologists around the globe. The teams have been studying the past ocean life and human interaction with the sea.

Event details
When: 6pm, Thursday 21 June
Where: Foyer, New Law Building, Camperdown Campus
Cost: free

For more information, visit the Sydney Ideas website.

Back by popular demand, the Confucius Institute’s Chinese tea appreciation lunch is a great cultural experience that’s relaxing and good for your health.

Learn about the muscle-relaxing and blood-cleansing properties of White Peony tea, the cancer-fighting properties of Oolong tea, and taste a cup of rare Du Hong Pao tea, which legend has it healed a Ming Dynasty Emperor.

Lunch also includes a dim sum menu and a tea appreciation talk by a Zensation Tea House tea expert. Limited places are available. Please book early to avoid disappointment.

Event details
When: 11am, Sunday 15 July
Where: Zensation Tea House, 656 Bourke Street, Surry Hills
Cost: $30

To secure your place, book on the Confucius Institute website.