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Thursday, December 5, 1996

UCB student delays entering murder plea

UC Berkeley junior Michael Singh, arrested earlier this week in connection with the slaying of a Hayward woman and her son, was arraigned in San Leandro-Hayward Municipal Court Monday but delayed entering a plea until he could find an attorney.

Singh, a 21-year-old Berkeley resident, has been charged on two counts of first-degree murder for the shooting deaths of 21-year-old Roshima Pippins and her 7-month-old son, Michael, who is believed to be Singh's son. If found guilty on both charges, Singh could face the death penalty.

Pippins was several months pregnant at the time of her death, and the fetus was killed in the slaying. Singh has not been charged with that death because the fetus was not considered developed enough to live outside her body.

A report filed by several Hayward police officers documents forensic evidence against Singh ­ including traces of blood and apparent gunshot residue on one of his jackets, as well as reports from investigators that Singh seemed to know how the victims were killed before he was told and that he tried to persuade a friend to physically coerce Pippins into aborting the 7-month-old child before he was born.

Investigators talked to Racheal Butler, who had been a friend of Singh's when he attended Diablo Valley College and later befriended Pippins. Butler told police that Singh was distraught over Pippins' pregnancy and told Pippins to get an abortion. When she refused, Singh asked Butler to call Pippins and threaten her physically. Butler told the officers that she called Pippins but ended up befriending her instead. When Singh heard of the developments, he told Butler that he would either have Pippins killed or kill her himself, Butler told police.

Singh told investigators that he first met Pippins when he was working at the west Berkeley branch of Wells Fargo Bank and she came in as a customer. Butler told the investigators that they began dating around May 1995 but broke up a couple of months later when Pippins informed him that he had gotten her pregnant.

Last December, Singh filed for a restraining order against Pippins, saying that she was stalking him and that, on one occasion, he had her arrested after she met him at work and followed him home. The restraining order was never served.

UCLA attracts $403.6 million for research

UCLA faculty attracted a record $403.6 million in contract and grant funding for research in 1995-96, up nearly 11 percent from $363.9 million the previous year.

"We're delighted to have achieved this extraordinary level of support for the valuable research projects being conducted here," said C. Kumar Patel, vice chancellor for research. "UCLA faculty are hard at work to help ensure that the U.S. remains a technological leader and a strong economic competitor. The support from private industry is especially important today, when we're seeing the federal government, the traditional source of funding for much of the fundamental research at universities, facing enormous fiscal pressures."

UCLA is the in the top echelon of universities for research funding. The latest national ranking by the National Science Foundation of colleges and universities receiving federal research dollars placed UCLA sixth, according to statistics for 1994-95. At any time, more than 5,000 funded research projects are under way on campus. UCLA administrators credit the new record to the university's aggressive pursuit of public research funds, coupled with the rise in UCLA's partnerships with industry and structural changes on campus that make it easier for faculty members to compete for research dollars.

"We wanted faculty to feel more comfortable seeking industry support," said Dan Hutchinson, director of strategic research initiatives.

Compiled from Daily Bruin staff and wire reports.