HIGH-ENERGY PARTICLES KNOWN AS COSMIC RAYS PLAY A CRITICAL ROLE IN SETTING THE IONIZATION WITHIN MOLECULAR CLOUDS THEREBY SHAPING CHEMICAL ABUNDANCES GAS TEMPERATURES AND DYNAMICS. THE IONIZATION RATE ALSO IMPACTS THE PROPERTIES AND EVOLUTION OF PROTOPLANETARY DISKS WHERE THE LEVEL OF IONIZATION DICTATES THE AMOUNT OF TURBULENCE AND MAY INFLUENCE PLANET FORMATION. BOTH RECENT THEORETICAL WORK AND OBSERVATIONS SUGGEST THAT LOW-ENERGY COSMIC RAYS ARE ACCELERATED BY THE ACCRETION AND JET SHOCKS OF FORMING STARS. THE IMPLICATION IS THAT STAR-FORMING REGIONS ARE BOOMING FACTORIES OF COSMIC RAYS. EXACTLY HOW THESE COSMIC RAYS PROPAGATE THROUGH THEIR ENVIRONMENT AND SHAPE THE STAR FORMATION PROCESS IS NOT CLEAR.