The ninth Advanced Study Institute (AS!) on Techniques and Concepts of High Energy Physics was almost canceled before ifbegan! A certain visitor to the area (Hurricane Bertha) arrived unexpectedly early in 1996. It was the first hur­ ricane in memory to menace the Caribbean in early July! Fortunately, it passed St. Croix several days before our meeting, and left very little damage. (The Altar­ ellis survived the eye of the storm in the in the British West Islands!) The meeting was held once again at the hotel on the Cay, on that spec of land in the harbor ofChrirtiansted, St. Croix, U. S. Virgin Islands. After the first two days of, at times, outrageous downpour, the 71 participants from 26 coun­ tries began to relax and enjoy the lectures and the lovely surroundings of the In­ stitute. The primary support for the meeting was provided by the ~cientific Affairs Division of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The ASI was cosponsored by the U. S. department of Energy, by the Fermi National Accelera­ tor Laboratory (Fermi-lab), by the U. S. National Science Foundation, and by the University of Rochester. In addition, the International Science Foundation con­ tributed to the support of a participant from Russia. As in the case of the previous ASIs, the scientific program was designed for advanced graduate students and recent Ph. D. recipients in experimental parti­ cle physics.