ONE OF THE MOST FUNDAMENTAL OPEN QUESTIONS IN SOLAR SYSTEM FORMATION IS: HOW DO THE GAS DYNAMICS IN THE PROTO-SOLAR DISK AFFECT THE EARLIEST STAGES OF PLANET FORMATION? THE SETTLING AND GROWTH OF MICRON-SIZED DUST GRAINS ARE DIRECTLY INFLUENCED BY GAS MOTIONS A RESULT OF STRONG AERODYNAMIC COUPLING BETWEEN THE GAS AND DUST. SIMILAR AERODYNAMIC INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THIS GAS AND LARGER MM-CM SIZED SOLIDS ARE ALSO THE KEY TO A MECHANISM KNOWN AS THE STREAMING INSTABILITY FOR FORMING PLANETESIMALS FROM THESE SMALLER CONSTITUENTS. DESPITE THE POWERFUL ROLE THAT GAS MOTIONS PLAY IN THE EARLIEST STAGES OF PLANET FORMATION THE NATURE OF SUCH MOTIONS IS STILL NOT ENTIRELY UNDERSTOOD. GIVEN THIS UNCERTAINTY PLANET FORMATION HAS BEEN STUDIED WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF SEVERAL DISK MODELS INCLUDING FULLY TURBULENT DISKS (E.G. FROM THE MAGNETOROTATIONAL INSTABILITY; MRI) VISCOUS ALPHA DISKS AND THE CLASSICAL DEAD ZONE MODEL IN WHICH TWO ACTIVE LAYERS (DRIVEN TO BE MRI TURBULENT BY EXTERNAL IONIZATION SOURCES) SURROUND A COLD WEAKLY IONIZED MID-PLANE REGION WHERE OHMIC DIFFUSIVITY QUENCHES THE MRI. HOWEVER RECENT YEARS HAVE SEEN THE EMERGENCE OF A NEW PARADIGM FOR GAS DYNAMICS IN PLANET FORMING DISKS THE IMPLICATIONS OF WHICH HAVE NOT YET BEEN EXPLORED FOR SOLAR SYSTEM PLANET FORMATION. THIS NEW PARADIGM IS BASED ON TWO OTHER LOW-IONIZATION EFFECTS THE HALL EFFECT (RESULTING FROM ION-ELECTRON DRIFT) AND AMBIPOLAR DIFFUSION (RESULTING FROM ION-NEUTRAL DRIFT) THAT CAN FUNDAMENTALLY ALTER THE GAS DYNAMICS IN PLANET FORMING REGIONS. IN PARTICULAR THE HALL EFFECT (IN CONCERT WITH A LARGESCALE VERTICAL MAGNETIC FIELD THREADING THE DISK) CAN RENDER THE MID-PLANE REGION OF THE DISK ACTIVE IN WAYS THAT DIFFER FROM PREVIOUS MODELS: THE DISK MID-PLANE IS DOMINATED BY LARGE-SCALE MAGNETIC TORQUES INTERMITTENT BURSTS OF MAGNETIC ACTIVITY OR NO MAGNETIC ACTIVITY AT ALL DEPENDING ON THE GEOMETRY OF THE MAGNETIC FIELD AND THE PRECISE STRENGTHS OF THE LOW-IONIZATION EFFECTS. EVEN IN THE CASE OF NO MAGNETIC ACTIVITY TURBULENCE APPEARS TO PERSIST NEAR THE MID-PLANE. FURTHERMORE THE LARGE SCALE VERTICAL FIELD WHICH IS NECESSARY TO DRIVE ACCRETION AT OBSERVED LEVELS LAUNCHES A STRONG WIND THAT REMOVES GAS FROM THE DISK VERTICALLY. IF THESE ADDITIONAL LOW-IONIZATION EFFECTS ALTER THE GAS DYNAMICS IN SUCH A CRITICAL WAY AS NUMEROUS STUDIES HAVE SUGGESTED WE MUST ADDRESS THE IMPLICATIONS OF THIS NEW PARADIGM FOR THE EARLIEST STAGES OF PLANET FORMATION. HERE WE PROPOSE A SERIES OF CALCULATIONS TO PURSUE THIS ENDEAVOR AND TO ANSWER TWO QUESTIONS CRITICAL TO THE EARLIEST STAGES OF PLANET FORMATION IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM: (1) HOW DO COMPLEX GAS FLOWS THAT RESULT FROM MAGNETIC FIELDS ACTING ON THE LOW-IONIZATION ENVIRONMENTS OF THE EARLY PROTOPLANETARY DISK INFLUENCE THE SETTLING OF DUST GRAINS AND (2) HOW DO THESE GAS FLOWS AFFECT THE GROWTH OF MM CM SIZED PARTICLES INTO PLANETESIMALS VIA THE STREAMING INSTABILITY? IN ORDER TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS WE WILL USE THE STATE-OF-THE-ART HYBRID MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS PARTICLE DYNAMICS CODE ATHENA TO CARRY OUT THREE TASKS: TASK 1: DETERMINE THE STRENGTH OF BOTH MAGNETICALLY-LAUNCHED WINDS AND MAGNETICALLY STIRRED TURBULENCE AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON THE SETTLING OF PROTOPLANETARY DISK SOLIDS. TASK 2: TEST WHETHER MAGNETICALLY-DRIVEN GAS DYNAMICS INHIBIT OR AID THE CLUMPING OF SOLIDS VIA THE STREAMING INSTABILITY. TASK 3: DETERMINE WHETHER MAGNETICALLY-DRIVEN GAS DYNAMICS CHANGE THE INITIAL MASS FUNCTION OF PLANETESIMALS FORMED VIA THE STREAMING INSTABILITY.