MUNCIE, Ind. -- Crisis communication is the focus of Ball State University College of Communication, Information, and Media’s annual Communication Week April 5-9.

Speakers present methods on how to handle the unexpected, from reporting crisis situations and handling hostage negotiations and Y2K communication problems to controling an unscripted television show.

Michael Holmes, professor of communications at the University of Utah, discusses his "Primer for Crisis and Coercion" Monday, April 5 in Bracken Library room 225 at 11 a.m. He is a hostage negotiation scholar and consultant and is published on the topic of conflict management in organizations.

Bob Furnad, president of CNN Headline News, and Steve Bell, Ball State telecommunications professor and former ABC news anchor, hold a dialogue April 5 at 6 p.m. in Bracken 225 on the news media’s coverage of crises. A video of Furnad directing CNN coverage of Desert Storm will be shown.

Furnad also discusses "Ethics in the News Media" Tuesday, April 6 at 11 a.m. in Bracken 225. Furnad produced much of CNN’s distinguished live news coverage, including the Persian Gulf War, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger. Before CNN, Furnad spent 18 years with ABC News, where he was senior producer for "ABC World News This Morning" and "Good Morning America."

The Y2K crisis at home and abroad is the focus of a series of talks Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. in Whitinger Building 140.

Mark Ohrvall, manager of information technology at Eli Lilly Company in Indianapolis, presents "Avoiding a Technology Crisis in the New Millennium."

Two visitors from the Ecole National Superioure des Telecommunications (ENST) in Bretagne, France, give the European perspective.

Robert Rannou, head of the computer science department, discusses "The Y2K Technology Crisis in Europe." Rannou holds computer science degrees from the University of Rennes in France and Queen’s University in Belfast, Ireland.

Ian Simpson, international relations coordinator for the school, presents "Deregulation of Telecommunications in Europe: The Crisis for Higher Education." A graduate of the University of Durham, England, he is also head of the modern languages department and the author of two books for the telecommunications industry.

Karl Skutski, president of Skutski & Associates Public Relations and partner in SPS Communications, advises on "What to Do When a Product Causes a Catastrophe" Wednesday, April 7 at 2:30 p.m. in Bracken 225. In his 25-year career Skutski has counseled a wide range of clients from high-tech start-ups to multinational corporations. His company has serviced such clients as Westinghouse, IBM, The Home Depot and Federal Express.

The producer and co-creator of the improvisational comedy show "Whose Line is it Anyway?" talks about controlling chaos on the set of the unscripted show Friday, April 9. Mark Leveson, formerly a civil servant in London and a college professor, speaks at 2 p.m. in Ball Communication Building 203.

The week’s activities also include a student crisis communication plan competition.