Larynx

Months after the military began investigating detainee abuses at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, the most visible result remains the criminal charges against seven low-ranking Army reserve soldiers despite evidence from Pentagon reports and courtroom testimony suggesting wider culpability. In other instances where people have been charged with detainee abuse, none of the cases have touched the highest-ranking officers connected to the scandal and none of the accused have faced the same bright-light scrutiny as the seven soldiers from the Western Maryland-based 372nd Military Police Company.

Dr. Haskins Kazunori "Chuck" Kashima, a noted Baltimore otolaryngologist who was a world leader in the treatment of laryngeal disease, died Thursday of complications from Alzheimer's disease at Heart Homes Assisted Living in Lutherville. He was 78. "Chuck had an international reputation in laryngeal matters and surgery. He was also an expert on the human papilloma virus and its effect on the larynx," said Dr. Charles W. Cummings, former chairman of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine's department of otolaryngology — head and neck surgery.

CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE, N.J. -- They found Susan Negersmith behind a restaurant on the Jersey shore. Her bruised and bloodied body lay sprawled on a piece of cardboard. Her T-shirt and bra were pushed up to her neck; her black jeans and panties bunched around her left foot.The crime scene photographs depicted a classic rape-murder. The county coroner found otherwise. Cause of death: alcohol intoxication and exposure. Manner of death: accidental.The spunky, hazel-eyed brunette had been drinking heavily in the hours before her death on May 27, 1990.

Catholicos Garegin I, 66, leader of the Armenian Apostolic Church, died yesterday in Echmiadzin, Armenia, of larynx cancer, three days before a planned meeting with an envoy sent by Pope John Paul II. Earlier this summer, the Armenian church canceled a trip by Pope John Paul II to Armenia because of Catholicos' failing health. The Vatican had scheduled a July 2-4 papal visit to Armenia as part of John Paul's efforts to improve relations with other Christian denominations.Pub Date: 6/30/99

Jay Scott Thompson, a Baltimore businessman and former food broker, died May 29 of throat cancer at Gilchrist Hospice Care. He was 54. Mr. Thompson was born in Baltimore and raised in Northwood and the Thornleigh section of Riderwood. After graduating from Boys' Latin School in 1974, he attended Roanoke College and the University of Maryland, College Park. During his college years, he went to work for the family business, W.H. Bryan Co., delivering food ingredients to local businesses.

Marine biologists were trying yesterday to determine what caused the death of a 68-foot fin whale that washed ashore on Cedar Island, Va., last week."It was very impressive," said W. R. "Nick" Carter III, a biologist for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources in Oxford. "It was the largest whale I've seen -- it must have been about the size of a school bus -- and it was in good condition, externally. It was just beautiful."But the whale, which is about 10 to 12 feet high and weighs about 60 tons, is so large that it cannot be moved, Carter said.

Jonah Hill, the chubby, urgently ebullient actor at the center of the high school comedy Superbad, has the ability to blurt out scripted profanities as if they were erupting from his own barely exposed id. Gangly Michael Cera, uncoordinated and croak-voiced, talks as if his larynx is aligned to a warped tuning fork, and walks as if his limbs are guided by a malfunctioning GPS system. Currently also appearing as an older (if no more mature) character in Knocked Up, the 23-year old Hill is sensational here as high school senior Seth, a sex-obsessed, unpredictable catalyst for good/bad news, mostly about growing up or not. Cera, 19 and an anchor of three seasons of Arrested Development, is just as good as Evan, Seth's gentle, intelligent and sometimes-craven Dartmouth-bound best pal. Superbad (Columbia Pictures)

No pain, no gain -- In a desperate bid for attention, little-known Czech figure skater Maya Sukova whacked her own knee with a tire iron and will miss the entire women's program.She has, however, signed a three-movie deal with the European division of Paramount, received a $500,000 advance on her autobiography and signed a lucrative promotional contract with Nike.Ike is out, too -- Success of retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf as CBS commentator in Lillehammer has network v-p of production Rick Gentile in a frenzy to sign Gen. George S. Patton for a similar role.

This is an edited excerpt of a San Francisco Chronicle editorial, which was published Jan. 13. LAUGHTER IS well-known to be the best medicine; now scientists tell us it is instinctual behavior, common to all cultures and a universal way to communicate. Our ancient ancestors were giggling and guffawing even before they learned to talk. San Francisco Chronicle science writer Carl T. Hall reported this week on University of Maryland psychologist Robert Provine's 10-year study of the physiology of laughter, its mechanics and evolutionary implications.