ndPd discusses scooter theft

By LIAM PRICE a ssociate news editor

those few antibodies that are responsible for recognizing the allergen and leaves everything else alone.” however, bilgicer emphasized this does not mean that inhibitors will be available to people in the near future. There are still years of tests before the product will be used on humans. first tests will be performed on other animals, and as the tests progress, they will grow larger and closer to the biology of people. bilgicer said this process creates some uncertainty moving forward, because the research cannot be done at the school. While notre dame owns the patent, they would need to make partnerships with larger companies in order to performs tests on other animals.

These goals are lofty, but years of work have been put in to achieve them. bilgicer joined the research in 2008 and since then, the researchers have tried their hardest to take small steps toward their goal.

“it’s been making progress a little bit at a time,” bilgicer reflected. research is a slow-moving process. studies do not begin with random hypotheses and human testing, and those working on this project have spent a decade and a half watching the experiments evolve, he explained.

“originally when we started out, we were working with model systems that didn’t really have real human energy relevance, but as years progressed, we learned more about allergies and the human immune system,” bilgicer said.

The experiments have moved from basic discussions of molecular biology to using mice as subjects. recently, the mice were treated with the inhibitor, and tests proved the method has real potential to work on human beings.

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despite all the progress made and the time already spent on the research, there remains a long road ahead. not only must the researchers find a partner, but bilgicer said they also need to perform these experiments in a thorough manner.

not all medicines are fasttracked like the covid-19 vaccine, and bilgicer said that without the immediate threat of a public health crisis, it will take more time to evaluate their research. he said he feels the vaccine may have given false hope on how fast the research process works.

“everybody’s expectations are a little skewed because the covid vaccine came up late in about a year,” he explained. although the research may take time, bilgicer said the researchers have faith in the process and are excited about the prospect of helping people with peanut allergies. but they also realize this model has a possibility to help with many other allergies. Their breakthroughs could be applicable to more than just peanuts, and they have already begun to look at allergens such as shrimp and penicillin.

no matter how far they have come, bilgicer looks back at their first real breakthrough as their biggest accomplishment. To him, it seemed to be proof that they were doing something truly worthwhile.

“We got some really good results that i was really excited about. and then i started thinking, ‘okay, you know, this is a chance, let’s move forward,’” he said.

Contact Emma Duffy at eduffy@nd.edu con T in U ed from Page 1 available to speak to residents from 8 to 10 p.m. Thursday evening, the email said. That night, r ehagen was walking around o ’ n eill to introduce himself to residents. s everal o ’ n eill residents said they had reason to believe León’s departure is connected to misconduct. a source close to hall staff members described them as “distressed.” University spokesperson d ennis b rown did not confirm or deny that León had been fired or that misconduct was involved but said the University has “nothing to add at this point beyond the message that was sent to the hall’s residents.” a ccording to his Linked i n profile, León served in the position for sophomore Zach brown, having a few friends over in his dorm one night last spring ended with a rather upsetting surprise: his electric scooter, which he had stored outside of his room to make space for his friends, had been stolen.

“i put it out there probably around 8 p.m. and then i knew it was there until about probably two in the morning,” brown said. “Whenever i woke up, at like 9 a.m., it was gone without a trace.” sophomore Liam redmond, a first-year gateway student at holy cross, also reported having his scooter stolen. one saturday morning last fall, the night of a notre dame football game, he left his ninebot scooter in a friend’s car in the holy cross student parking lot.

“[i] went back sunday morning to open the truck and get it and it was missing. and, it appeared as though the car had been rummaged through,” he said. “We cannot remember if it was like, a locked and somebody broke in-situation, or if it was unlocked and somebody opened the trunk itself, but it was clearly stolen.” redmond’s scooter was stolen in the 2021 fall semester before notre dame implemented its e-scooter registration initiative to help prevent scooter thefts, and brown had not yet registered his scooter at the time his scooter was stolen. both reported their scooters being stolen to the notre dame Police department (ndPd), but neither redmond nor brown was ever contacted about their scooters being found. increasing scooter thefts on campus

Kris hinton, who works in the investigations department at ndPd, said that this school year, as more students are buying scooters to use rather than riding bikes or skateboards, there has been an uptick in for only eight months, beginning the role in July 2022. a fter completing his undergraduate studies in social work at c al Poly Pomona, León earned a graduate degree in social work from s an Jose s tate University in 1992 and another graduate degree in elementary teaching and education from Loyola m arymount University in 2009. i n an interview with The o bserver in the fall, León said he had worked in education for 17 years before taking the job as o ’ n eill rector. scooter thefts reported to ndPd recently, hinton said ndPd has received reports of about 10 to 15 scooters a month being stolen. additionally, the electric scooters on campus look so similar to each other that students often mistake another student’s scooter for their own.

” i think for me, it’s the building of relationships, building a foundation and understanding it’s about the whole, not necessarily myself,” León said in the interview on starting his job as rector.

“What happens is that when someone purchases a scooter, they may not take any photos of it, they may not put any stickers on it, they may not write down the serial number of it,” hinton said. “and that would really help us with identifying it because with some of the scooters that have been reported as missing or as a theft, they’re more likely on campus somewhere, but we don’t have that information to help us distinguish it from one gotrax to another.” hinton said that identifiable stickers are very helpful for ndPd to locate students’ lost scooters.

“We’ve had some incidents in the past where some students have put some special stickers, either somewhere they’ve been, or a place, or a name… we’ve actually been able to use that particular sticker or accessory they put on it to help identify it,” he said.

The best ways for students to keep their scooters safe, hinton said, are to register their scooters with ndPd and to use a lock.

“Takethetimetoregister.ifyoudon’t want to come to the police department, you can do it online,” hinton said. “if you register it, we have all the information we need. That would help deter a lot of this from happening.” after having his own scooter stolen, brown also had advice to share with other scooter owners on campus.

“onceit’sgone,there’sreallynothing you can do,” brown said. “Whatever it takes to invest in [your scooter’s security], like a good lock or an airTag to track it, which i know a couple of friends of mine have done, those are 100% worth it.”

Contact Liam Price at lprice3@nd.edu