NYT Magazine, June 14, 1998: PREPARE YE This will make for a gloomy five days, but from June 29 to July 3 disaster experts from all over will convene in Russellville, Ark., to talk about "Principles and Practice of Disaster Relief and Recovery." Sessions cover: How to create an emergency mass mortuary, toxic-waste cleanups and dealing with nuclear meltdown. Vernie R. Fountain, of the Fountain National Academy of Professional Embalming Skills in Springfield, Mo., will discuss "identification of the dead" after natural and man-made disasters. Natural disasters have killed 181 people this year in the United States; there have been more than 600 tornadoes. Are we in jinxed times? "It's been a pretty good year so far, not a lot of terrorism," says Matthew Blais, a nuclear-terrorism expert. "But there are a lot of crazy people out there, saving up for the big one. You never know when." ---