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.