"39% of the defendants that the defenders represented in oral trials were acquitted." That was one of the relevant data that the regional defender of Coquimbo, Alejandro Viada, announced during the public account of the 2013 management carried out in the Multipurpose Room of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Economics of the University of La Serena, which It was attended by regional and university authorities, directors and students from the State Law School, criminal defenders and officials from the Regional Defender's Office. 

Viada explained that during that period the defenders attended to 727 defendants in 599 oral trials, of which 443 were convicted and 284 were acquitted, which corresponded to 39%. 

However, he revealed, the most worrying thing is that of the total number of acquitted people, 85 remained deprived of liberty during the investigation stage or part of it. ''Any evidence dependent on a person's memory can be fallible when remembering distressing or tense details and prosecutors must make a first examination of its technical rigor to avoid evidence that is initially convincing, but ultimately erroneous,'' Viada emphasized. 

The authority highlighted that in the majority of cases of acquittal sentences, worrying factors were seen in the investigation that determined the result and, he added, that these are mainly erroneous identifications by witnesses and limitations of science, which prevent an investigation. appropriate. To this, he explained, are added false or forced confessions, illegitimate pressure, anonymous witnesses, lack of thoroughness in photographic examinations and lineups of prisoners.

other figures

In other data of interest, the regional defender stated that last year 13.528 new admissions were registered, which meant a slight increase of 1,4% compared to 2012. Meanwhile, the terms, he said, reached 14.385 cases.

The authority added that in terms of age, 11.811 defendants were over 18 years of age and 1.716 were adolescents, a figure that corresponded to 15% of the total defendants admitted. Of the total number of young people served, 1.304 corresponded to the age group between 16 and 17; while 412 for the section between 14 and 15 years old. Regarding gender, he noted that 11.417 people were men and 2.111 women. 

Viada also stated that the most frequent crimes reported were simple theft with 14%, less serious injuries with 12%, simple threats with 8% and drunk driving with 7%.

Meanwhile, the main forms of termination of the cases corresponded to the conditional suspension of the procedure with 25%, the conviction without benefit and without suspension 12%, the rebellion of the accused with 11% and the sentence with benefit without suspension with 10%.

Present at this activity were the Seremi of Justice, Carlos Gallegullos, the general secretary of the ULS, M.Sc. Sergio Zepeda, the dean of FACSE, Mg. Jorge Fernández, the director of the Law degree, Mg. Gonzalo Plaza, among other guests.

The activities of this free course will be extended until July 16.

This Wednesday, June 4, the 2014 Training Course ''Intervention in Couple Violence with a Gender Approach'' begins at the University of La Serena, taught by the Liwen Women's Center and framed in the agreement signed by the house of higher education and the National Women's Service.

This is a free course, with certification and whose workshops will take place in the ULS Multipurpose Room, located on the Isabel Bongard Campus (Amunátegui 851, La Serena). Its participants will have classes from 15:00 p.m. to 18:00 p.m., always on Wednesdays, treating a different area each time.

This is how the first workshop includes ''General Aspects'', led by the coordinator of the Liwen Center, Keyla Marín (social worker); continues on June 11 ''Psychosocial Aspects'', with the psychologist from the same Center, Karina Meza; On June 18, Keyla Marín will refer to ''Theoretical Models''; and on June 25, the psychosocial duo of Gonzalo Marín and Jennifer Hiche will address ''Men's Center Intervention Model''. 

On July 2, the topic will be ''First Reception'', with the social worker of the Liwen Center, Leslie Jiménez; The following Wednesday (July 9), the Center's lawyer, Natalia Honores, will refer to the Domestic Violence Law 20.066; ending the course activities on Wednesday, July 16, with the day on ''Workplace and Sexual Harassment'' and the certification ceremony.

The initiative is also supported by the Association of Officials of the University of La Serena. 

German

Let us remember that the Liwen Center serves women over 18 years of age who are victims of gender violence, especially in the context of a couple, offering them support in psychological, social and legal matters. Its work with the ULS has been strengthened through the agreement signed by the University with SERNAM in 2012, coordinated by the institution's academic, Georgina García.

Workshops, talks and dialogues have been part of the actions carried out in this alliance for the prevention of gender violence and the work to support its victims, which has been developed through three axes incorporated in the agreement: design of actions that promote emotional relationships without violence and the generation of professionals with training in matters of domestic violence; joint work to develop specific agreements considering the particularities of the regional reality; and permanent coordination of the technical teams defined by both institutions, to develop the agreed work agenda.

In recent weeks, the Executive has been fine-tuning details of the agreements that it will sign this Wednesday, June 4, with the ULS and the universities of Antofagasta, Playa Ancha, Talca and Magallanes.

The University of La Serena has been chosen by the Government, along with four other higher education institutions in the country, to be in charge of one of the five new state Technical Training Centers (CFT) that will be created in the regions of Coquimbo, Antofagasta, Valparaíso, Maule and Magallanes. 

In recent weeks, the Executive has been fine-tuning details of the agreements that it will sign this Wednesday, June 4, with the ULS and the universities of Antofagasta, Playa Ancha, Talca and Magallanes.

It is in this context that the Rector of the University of La Serena, Dr. Nibaldo Avilés Pizarro, highlighted the initiative, pointing out that ''the institution has given important signals of quality, reliability and continuous assurance, factors that influenced the Government to have chosen the ULS to be in charge of this new public Technical Training Center of the Coquimbo Region, which will undoubtedly contribute to the training of quality technicians, who will contribute to the development of the region and the country.'' 

It should be noted that the creation of these five new CFTs, ​​linked to public schools, corresponds to one of the measures in the first 100 days of Michelle Bachelet's Government, also announced by the President on May 21 in her First Public Account.

From May 26 to 29, the first plenary meeting of the Commission of Library Directors of the Council of Rectors (CABID) was held in Santiago, a session in which the head of the Library System of the University of La Serena, Héctor García, was present. , and where the work plan for the current year was discussed, which was unanimously approved.

Profiling the Commission as a leader in the country, integrating the concept of CI2 as a fundamental tool for libraries and promoting the linkage of ICTs, are the main strategic lines of this work plan that will become effective, considering different strategies agreed upon with all the institutions. 

Within these guidelines, CABID members participated on May 27 and 28 in the First Congress of University and Specialized Libraries, organized by the SISIB of the University of Chile, which was international in nature and was attended by more than 300 people, 

Some of the issues addressed in this Congress were: access to information, information services; digital collections; electronic publication; discovery software; open data, metadata and cataloging; library web and information architecture; academic repositories; intellectual property and copyright; information literacy; mobile technologies; bibliometrics; and use of social networks.

According to what Héctor García pointed out, the University of La Serena was mentioned in the presentation ''Latin American Repositories Network'', by Isabel Maturana (SISIB), in which he reports on the repositories with OAI protocol of institutions nationals. This mention is translated into the Scientific Journals Portal.

Finally, on May 29, a meeting was held between the members of CABID and Martha Kyrillidou (United States), senior director of the Statistics and Service Quality Programs of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), where the evaluation topics and standards of university libraries, the past, present and future. The ARL is a leading global organization, which is at the forefront in this regard.

CABID

It should be remembered that CABID is the representative entity and coordinator of the activities in the fields of Libraries and Information Services of the higher education institutions attached and that in the future will be attached to the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities. In addition, in coordination with the Executive Secretary of the Council of Rectors, it is a technical advisory mechanism for the rectors of said Council in pertinent matters. The Commission holds two plenary meetings annually, the purpose of which is to establish joint lines of action.

Despite the danger of conservation of its flora and fauna, and the presence of new endemic species, this place is not yet considered a reserve or protected area of ​​our country.

It is described by specialists as a ''unique place'' in the Atacama Desert, in terms of endemism and species richness. This is Paposo, a town located in the Coastal Desert of the Antofagasta Region, which covers different geomorphological and climatic zones, with a wide variety of habitats, which has allowed the evolution and adaptation of different species, and endemism in its biota. .

This area of ​​northern Chile is characterized by having a rich diversity of native plant species, many of them endemic and some exclusive to the Antofagasta Region, but which are vulnerable and in danger of becoming extinct. Situation similar to that of its fauna, with various endemic species, such as two new species of scorpions (Brachistosternus paposo and Brachistosternus barrigai) and a new species of spider (Aysenia paposo), recently described thanks to studies carried out since 2011. by Chilean and Argentine researchers, members of an arthropodological expedition, led by the researcher and academic of the Ecological Entomology Laboratory of the University of La Serena, Jaime Pizarro-Araya.

To these three species of arachnids described in the prestigious magazine Zootaxa (ISI), is added the categorization in 2013 of the ''Paposo Vaquita'' (Gyriosomus angustus), in the category of ''Endangered'' of extinction by the Ministry of Environment. Currently, this species of beetle, approximately 18 mm in length, is threatened by the decrease in vegetation cover and floristic diversity, indiscriminate grazing, unauthorized micro-garbage dumps, unauthorized seed collection, the extraction of native vegetation and the possible effect of a thermoelectric plant. 

Despite the danger of conservation of its endemic flora and fauna, this place, called by Pizarro-Araya as the ''Oasis of the Chilean Coastal Desert'', is not yet considered a reserve or protected area of ​​our country. That is why the researchers recommend in their study, "prioritizing the incorporation of Paposo into the National System of Protected Wild Areas of the State of Chile (SNASPE)." 

According to what is indicated by Jaime Pizarro-Araya, Paposo has an endemic situation that could even turn it into a Natural Monument. ''The protection of a unique fauna in the world, which is present in our coastal desert, is essential. "Laws that protect species are not enough, but regulations are required that protect the environments where these species live," explains the researcher from the University of La Serena, who participated in the study in the North of the country along with professionals from the Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG), the U. of La Serena, the U. of Concepción, the Bernardino Rivadavia Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences of Buenos Aires (MACN) and the Chilean Society of Entomology, an initiative co-financed by the Research Directorate of the ULS.

In recent years, the Ecological Entomology Laboratory of the University of La Serena (LEULS) has been carrying out various projects in order to study the diversity of endemic species of the coastal desert. An example of the work carried out is the categorization in 2011 of the ''Choros Island Vaquita'' (Gyriosomus granulipennis Pizarro-Araya & Flores), a beetle present only on Choros Island (Humboldt Penguin National Reserve), Coquimbo Region, which could be categorized as ''Vulnerable''.

The workshop provided its participants with key knowledge to improve their business presentations.

With the participation of forty entrepreneurs, the ''Elevator Pitch'' workshop was recently held, an instance generated by the ULS Entrepreneurship Office and CORFO Coquimbo Region, within the framework of the StartUp Phase Zero program and in line with the ''Development Program of the Innovative Entrepreneurship Ecosystem of the Coquimbo Region.

The activity, led by Héctor Sepúlveda Velásquez, creator and Head Coach of the ''Power Pitch Method'', was aimed at higher education students from the region, in order to train the participants in the preparation of an appropriate pitch ( script) to explain your business ideas to an investor in record time.

Currently, society is in constant movement, worshiping time and efficiency, which is why for an entrepreneur seeking to promote his product or service, being able to create a clear, rational and concise summary of a business project It is vital, in addition to making optimal use of time. Under this need, Héctor Sepúlveda created the ''Power Pitch Method'', in order to teach people various techniques for constructing a Pitch script (speech), with skills brought from other areas of knowledge such as the performing arts. , among other. 

For Sepúlveda, learning to write a good script by entrepreneurs is essential, since the first meetings are essential for the success of their purposes. ''Young people at this stage are testing their new ideas, they are testing whether they are capable of being entrepreneurs and the issue of presenting your offer is usually the last stage of the development of a value creation and facing early with a methodology that helps them put together "This offer is quite good at this stage, since they have a lot of time in life to improve," he specified. 

On this day, participants learned how the ''Power Pitch Method'' methodology can help create a presentation accurately and in a limited time. Within this session, topics such as logic, strategy, among other subjects were discussed. In addition, the participants were taught a way to create a script based on six steps belonging to the philosophy of this method.

The director of CORFO Coquimbo Region, Andrés Sánchez Araya, pointed out that this workshop is an opportunity for young entrepreneurs to expand their knowledge, thanks to financing from the Government of Chile. ''It is important to have training, to be able to perfect oneself and after that comes a phase in which incentives from the State can be given, so that they can be entrepreneurs and thus achieve the final objective,'' he argued.

This is the case of Oscar Cristi, who indicated that this workshop was a very beneficial and valuable experience, not only for entrepreneurs, but also for any professional. ''I thank the University for giving us the opportunity to learn something new, I feel very good and I believe that we will be able to give value to our idea and now continue working intensely so that everything turns out well,'' he said.