The activity organized by the ULS Department of Legal Sciences, was inaugurated by the National Prosecutor, Jorge Abbott Charme.

“The challenges in the prosecution and prosecution in the criminal process against organized crime and the crime of money laundering: Are some adjustments to the system required?” was the name of the seminar organized by the Department of Legal Sciences and the Law degree, attached to the Faculty of Social, Business and Legal Sciences, and which included the participation of the National Prosecutor of the Public Ministry of Chile, Jorge Abbott Charme.

The seminar was inaugurated by the National Prosecutor, who thanked the invitation and noted on the subject that “20 years after the reform began, many adjustments are evidently required. From the point of view of the Public Ministry, we have been able to address this issue until now mainly by taking administrative measures. And we have tried to address the investigation and prosecution of this type of conduct through decisions aimed at assigning prosecutors specialized in this matter, in the different regions. But they do not have exclusive dedication, consequently, they do not have the possibility of permanently working in the area, having criminal organizations at the helm that do have the resources to improve their actions more and more every day. That is why we believe that it is necessary to take measures in the order of procedural law.”

Lawyers and professors from various areas related to the subject also presented, such as Professor Juan Carlos Manríquez, from the law firm Manríquez, Benavides & Compañía, who presented the topic “Economic crime committed by legal entities, businesses evading the law and money laundering.” assets: fact of connection and circle of authors. “Firewalls to criminal prosecution.” Secondly, lawyer Marcelo Contreras Rojas, belonging to the Financial Analysis Unit, presented the topic “Role of the UAF. within the framework of Law 19.913, its relationship with the Public Ministry. Work done and pending challenges.”

During the second block, it was the ULS professor's turn. and lawyer, Mg. Carlos Esperguen, who is a member of the Coquimbo Region Criminal Defender's Office and presented the topic "Trafficking of cultural property as a modern manifestation of the crime of money laundering." Then it was the turn of Dr. Carlos Del Río Ferretti, from the Catholic University of Maule, who presented the topic “Notes on procedural law on the criminal prosecution of the crime of money laundering.” Finally, Dr. Mario Durán, from the University of Atacama, ended the day with the topic “Liability of legal entities in Chile. Prevention system and model. Observations and criticisms.

Finally, the Dean of the Faculty of Social, Business and Legal Sciences, Dr. Luperfina Rojas Escobar, thanked the speakers and noted that “it is a privilege that this academic debate and legal and social reflection can be generated in our University, more even because our house of studies houses a Law School with a seal of public service, ethics and commitment to the common good. This seminar also has the close collaboration of the Criminal Defense Office of the Coquimbo region, headed by its Defender Inés Rojas Varas, an institution with which we have worked together since the Law Degree of our Faculty was born, an alliance that, Starting this year, it is formalized through a framework collaboration agreement.”

If you want to relive it, you can visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swne-YX5qu8

Written by Consuelo Peña Gamboa - FACSEJ

The activity was carried out within the framework of the Scientific Inquiry Deepening Course, with the purpose of bringing participants closer to the topics worked on in the classroom in an experiential way.

One of the commitments of the ICEC Program is to ensure that teachers can reflect on the learning obtained in their training sessions and, above all, apply this knowledge in their local environment. Therefore, one of the actions contemplated by the initiative is to carry out field trips somewhere in the region, where participants can directly contemplate the socio-scientific problems that affect the natural environment.

“What is more significant than the classroom moving to a local space, which is part of our daily lives, where we can observe and analyze the various factors that intervene in the dynamics of this landscape, this geography, natural phenomena, population dynamics , anthropic intervention, which are factors that shape and modify it over time,” said academic Gloria Núñez.

However, given the health situation caused by COVID-19, this year an extraordinary outing was carried out virtually in the Elqui River Mouth Wetland.

On this occasion, the activity was carried out by the Biodiversity advisor, Elizabeth Villalobos, who, through recordings previously made in person at the Desembocadura del Río Elqui Wetland together with the ICEC-ULS team, managed to explain the topics to be worked on related to the generality, biodiversity and socio-scientific problems.

“As a reflection, human beings are not inherently bad, but the problems arise from the need to learn to live together in a way in which we can all meet the needs of people, animals, and other living beings, and thus having the space to develop their activities,” said Professor Villalobos.

It should be noted that field trips constitute a didactic strategy that allows one to verify in one place what was learned in the classroom or to gather information in an experiential way on a topic worked on. This allows learning to be contextualized in a specific place and time, and thus be able to work on scientific inquiry in the local space.

“It is important to consider for the teaching of science, the geographical space and socio-scientific aspects, which are strategies that link teachers and students with places in their city or context, promoting knowledge of the territory through identification, knowledge and/or or resolution of socio-scientific problems, developing scientific skills and contributing to citizen education,” concluded Professor Brayan Omar Castillo, coordinator in Field and Logistics.

Virtual Terrain activities can be reviewed at http://icecregiondecoquimbo.cl/terreno-virtual/

Written by Daniela Ledezma, ICEC

A group of ten students from the Local Design Workshop of the Design major participated in the meeting along with teachers Wilson Vigorena, Débora Zepeda, Nicolas Cerda and Christian Méndez, along with professionals from the Foundation for Overcoming Poverty.

Within the framework of the Fondart project "Value and contribution of Service Design Prototyping for the strengthening of the industry." From the Finnish experience to the Chilean context, an interesting dialogue was developed with the rapporteurs Dr. Mariluz Soto and Dra. c) Look at Alhonsuo.

This initiative aims to investigate the Service Innovation Corner laboratory, SINCO, of the University of Lapland, Finland, with the purpose of developing a model appropriate to the Chilean sociocultural context for the incorporation of service design prototyping that links the academic and public sectors. and private for the benefit of the generation of knowledge and well-being of Compare the attributes and characteristics of both cultures to specify the variables that will define the model and its applicability.

As part of the process, participants were able to learn about the work of Service Prototyping from an experiential perspective that combines technology with experimentation, getting closer to the Nordic vision of services and analyzing the possibilities of integrating good practices in our way of designing and innovating. the definition of service experiences.

A group of ten students from the Local Design Workshop (third year) of the Design degree participated in the meeting along with teachers Wilson Vigorena, Débora Zepeda, Nicolas Cerda and Christian Méndez, along with professionals from the Foundation for Overcoming Poverty .

“These experiences are relevant to us, since the topic includes a disciplinary area prevalent in today's design and in some way this workshop allows us to introduce ourselves to this discipline and analyze the experiences developed in this field,” says academic Christian Méndez.

It should be noted that this is an initiative with the support of the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage, the University of Development and the Embassy of Finland in Chile and for the optimal development of the research, it was linked with institutions that They collaborated in some of the stages in which their participation was fundamental for the realization of the project, they are Service Innovation Corner (SINCO), Inacap and the School of Design of the University of La Serena.

Written by Claudia Farías, Faculty of Humanities

In the framework of the webinar “Reflections on Public Higher Education”, the president of the Consortium of State Universities of Chile (CUECH), Ennio Vivaldi, pointed out that it is the duty of Public Universities to provide compelling information that contributes to the debate on the future Constitution.

This Wednesday, June 30, the successful webinar “Reflections on Public Higher Education” was held, carried out by the Consortium of State Universities of Chile; The event brought together more than 200 participants through the Zoom platform and social networks.

The central presentation was given by the president of CUECH and rector of the University of Chile, Ennio Vivaldi Véjar, who developed the central ideas of the document “State Universities and the New Constitution.” This text, which was prepared by the 18 public universities of Chile, was subsequently commented on by the national prizewinners Diamela Eltit, José Maza and Elicura Chihuailaf.

The document is now available for download here.

“Our country is preparing to experience an unprecedented process in its history and for the first time a new Magna Carta will be written through a democratically elected representative body, said the president of CUECH”, Ennio Vivaldi.

The rector added that this instance seeks to cement a new model of society, which in its genesis differs from the current one, which was imposed during the dictatorship, in accordance with an ideology based on individualism and the denial of the public sphere; “The current process offers us the opportunity to recover certain principles and rights that were reduced to a minimum in the 1980 Constitution,” he said.

The president of CUECH also made reference to the entry and unregulated expansion of private higher education institutions, a process that was promoted by the military dictatorship and that limited the existing public university system in the country, progressively reducing the basal funds provided by the State. to State Universities.

The decrease in basal resources, in addition to undermining the foundations of the social right to education, implied a loss of recognition of the multiple tasks that public institutions have, beyond their teaching work.

The reflection of state universities

Given the country's need to have a robust higher education, which allows it to adequately face the challenges of the future, the document released today by the State Universities explains that the new Constitution should explicitly guarantee the right to higher education , following the example of countries like Portugal, Norway or Sweden.

Along with this, the text points out the need for this right to be materialized through the free provision of education in a set of state institutions at the technical and university level, financed mostly or completely through basic public contributions.

“We must rebuild a system of public, inclusive and excellent education that successively articulates its basic, secondary, technical and university levels,” Ennio Vivaldi emphasized during his presentation.

The reflections of the National Awards

After the presentation of the document, a space was opened for reflection by three prominent academics and National Prize winners: Diamela Eltit, 2018 National Literature Prize; José Maza, National Prize for Exact Sciences 1999 and Elicura Chihuailaf, National Prize for Literature 2020.

Diamela Eltit carried out an in-depth analysis of how the imposition of neoliberalism and its legitimization during the transition affected Chilean society, culminating in the social outbreak of October 2019, which highlighted the distance between the elites and citizens.

“From this context the next constitution will be written,” he stressed. Furthermore, he added that the composition of the Constituent Convention is important, because its representativeness indicates that it is possible to "rethink the model and restore the role of the State as a precautionary in the production, surveillance, assistance and course of the common good."

Then, Professor José Maza explained, who focused his reflection on the importance of quality and free public education. Likewise, he also maintained that to take a leap in development, countries must invest in science and technology.

The astronomer specified that nations that have reached their development invested a high percentage of their Gross Domestic Product in science and technology in their intermediate stage of growth. “Israel invests 4,97% of GDP, Korea 4,8% and Sweden 3,34%,” Maza highlighted as examples to follow. "Chile, which is in an intermediate stage, only invests 0,36% of its GDP, very far from Brazil's 1,46% or Argentina's 0,58."

Finally, the poet Elicura Chihuailaf made a reflection that deepened the need to have a conversation where different visions are heard; have a dialogue between equals, but open to knowing the other's vision.

The poet emphasized that teacher training, decentralization and development centered on nature are part of the dialogues that are present in our society. “The State must consecrate education with preferential attention, education as a social right and not as a consumer good subject to the vagaries of the market, it must also establish the central guidelines for the training of teachers in accordance with the needs of the country,” he concluded.

Source: CUECH Communications 

For three days, students from various regions had to work as a team in order to solve the problems of access to water present in rural communities. The event called “Hackathon for Water” was organized by the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences of the University of Chile, and had the support of the University of La Serena and the Quitai Anko Water Technology Center Consortium.

17 students from the University of La Serena were part of the Hackathon for Water, carried out on June 25, 26 and 27 online and simultaneously at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, the University of Concepción, the University of Frontera, the Austral University of Chile and the University of Chile. The event had more than 165 participants nationwide.

It should be noted that the activity organized by the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences of the University of Chile together with the Engineering Without Borders Foundation, in support of the Quitai Anko Water Technology Center Consortium, sought to respond and find innovative solutions to the water crisis that the country faces, with the aim of contributing to solving the problems of access to water in rural communities, in an interdisciplinary and decentralized way.

This is how the Hackathon for Water is positioned as the first student water innovation event, which allowed, in the case of the ULS, four teams to develop their ideas guided by facilitators and mentors specialized in water issues, who collaborated in the development of each of the proposals.

Who was part of the event, being present at the opening and closing ceremonies, both national and regional headquarters, was the Rector of the University of La Serena, Dr. Nibaldo Avilés Pizarro, who valued the work and interest of the students in contributing with innovative solutions to the water problems that affect the area. “We are proud that it is our young talents who are dealing with the problem of water, its availability and access, and we highlight the importance of it being them who, based on their innovation and youth, seek solutions that, based on their training and values, are very remarkable, especially if the collaboration of joint work is taken as a basis.”

For his part, Dr. Pablo Álvarez, director of the Quitai Anko Water Technology Center Consortium and jury of the event, commented that it was a very intense activity, where “it was noted that the teams worked a lot during the three days. Something to highlight in my opinion is that it is a national event that brought together seven regions to address the water problem, that is very valuable, especially for the students because they saw themselves with their peers. The contribution goes beyond the borders of the region, it is a contribution to the entire water problem in the country.”

For Álvaro Leguia, Co-founder and Director of Engineering Without Borders, participating in a Hackathon was a very important event. “Here there are nearly 200 volunteers focused on finding decentralized solutions for everyone, collaborating and engineering solutions to improve the quality of life of communities that are in a context of vulnerability. Here is work from seven regions that, for more than a year, have been putting their efforts into something super big. I want to thank every professional, student, facilitator, mentor, every organization and above all every person. We can solve this drop by drop, person by person, until each community has access to the technologies it needs,” he said.

Winning team

Those in charge of evaluating the four participating teams and defining the winners of the ULS headquarters Hackathon were the jurors Dr. Pablo Álvarez, Director of the Quitai Anko Water Technology Center; Dr. Francisco Meza, Deputy Regional Director of Research and Development of Inia Intihuasi, and Dr. Claudio Vásquez, Corporate Manager of CEAZA.

In the ULS case, the name of the winning project is Monitored, generated by the students Catalina Barrios and Mauricio Milla, from the Industrial Civil Engineering major, and Carlos Millán and Mariana Tapia, from the Environmental Civil Engineering major.

Carlos Millán, ULS student and member of the team that won first place, emphasized that “we feel very grateful for the place that this Hackathon gives us, in order to continue advancing the project. We appreciate these types of instances, where such important issues are discussed, which gives us experience in different areas of our careers.”

The winning group will be able to participate in the pre-incubation process at Open Beauchef, Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship of the FCFM of the University of Chile, where subsequently, the three best groups will move on to an incubation stage between November and May 2022.

Written by Camila González, Quitai Anko Water Technology Center Consortium

It should be noted that this activity will be carried out to commemorate Librarian's Day.

With the aim of commemorating Librarian's Day, a holiday that in Chile is established for July 10, the date of creation of the country's College of Librarians, the Municipality of La Serena in conjunction with the Directorate of Liaison with the Environment and Extension ULS will hold the Conversation: Can you read a pandemic? on July 09 at 15:30 p.m.

The activity will feature the participation of Paola Faúndez, Librarian and Academic of Children's and Young People's Literature at the Andrés Bello and Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile Universities; Sara Yusta, Librarian at the University of Magallanes; Claudia Bravo, ULS Librarian and Carola Martínez, Writer and Editor.

To watch the broadcast of the event you must enter the DIVEULS YouTube channel or go to the Facebook of the Department of Culture of La Serena.

Written by Daniela Cabrera, DIDOC ULS