In a ceremony held in the city of Talca and in which the Rector, Dr. Nibaldo Avilés, was present, the President of the Republic, Michelle Bachelet, signed the agreements for the creation of the five new state CFTs under the protection of public universities. 

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. 

This was announced by President Michelle Bachelet in a ceremony held this Wednesday, June 4, in the hall of honor of the Central House of the University of Talca, an event in which the Rector of the University of La Serena, Dr. Nibaldo Avilés, was present. , and in which the President signed the agreements for the creation of the five new state CFTs, ​​under the leadership of the universities of La Serena, Antofagasta, Playa Ancha, Talca and Magallanes. 

The President of the Republic explained that ''today we signed the first five agreements for the creation of state technical training centers in five regions of Chile under the protection of public universities: in Antofagasta with the University of Antofagasta; in Coquimbo with the University of La Serena; in Valparaíso with the University of Playa Ancha; in Magallanes with the University of Magallanes, and of course here in Maule, with the University of Talca.

Furthermore, the President pointed out that ''these five centers will be the starting point of a network that will be in the 15 regions, and that will direct its work towards regional development and will be articulated harmoniously with the rest of the educational levels and with the productive sector". She added that "international evidence shows that without training quality technicians, in permanent contact with productive needs, with communities, it is not possible to build equitable societies that develop economically and prosper socially."

The Rector of the University of La Serena, Dr. Nibaldo Avilés, highlighted the initiative, pointing out that ''the institution has given important signs of quality, reliability and continuous assurance, factors that influenced the Government to choose 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.'' 

During the ceremony, the Head of State also highlighted that a Public-Private Technical Vocational Training Council will be created in each region that "ensures the coordination between technical-vocational secondary education, higher or tertiary technical education." professional and also the productive sector. Because that means that you really have opportunities not only to study, but also to continue developing and working."

The researcher at the University of La Serena and coordinator of the NASA-UAVSAR mission, Mg. Héctor Maureira gave an interview to the radio program ''Dimension International'' of the United States Embassy in Chile, on the occasion of the international project that allowed a NASA air vehicle that has a polarimetric L-band radar sensor to fly over the month of April in a large part of the Coquimbo Region, with the purpose of carrying out soil moisture measurements through radar remote sensing.

In this radio space, the head of the Central Laboratory of Analysis and Applied Research of the university, provided details of this initiative that included the measurement, for the second consecutive year, of four agricultural fields in the area (Juan Soldado, Callegari, La Alpina and Las Cardas), in addition to the Tamaya and Tabalí vineyards (Limarí Province). These last two, within the framework of the international cooperation project in which scientists from NASA, the Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture and the University of La Serena participate, through the Mg. Héctor Maureira, and whose purpose is to create a Water Management Model for vine cultivation, using satellite data, which will provide a decision-making tool for irrigation management, through Evapotranspiration, Temperature and Humidity maps. Soil and Vegetation, and Water Stress.

Coinciding with the passage of the aircraft, a Field Group made up of more than 70 people carried out measurements and took soil and vegetation samples in the aforementioned agricultural fields, in order to validate the data remotely detected by the radar. It is expected that through the use of this satellite information, it will be possible to increase yield and quality related to key parameters such as: yield per hectare, sugar content and bunch density. In addition, the Water Management Model could be expanded to other crops or natural vegetation covers in the Coquimbo Region, currently exposed to a long period of drought.

The interview with the ULS researcher and the scientific attaché of the United States Embassy in Chile, Pablo Valdez, is available at http://spanish.chile.usembassy.gov/2014dimension051614sp_nasa.html.

"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.