  Recent results on the use of hard probes in heavy ion collisions by the STAR
experiment at RHIC are reviewed. The increased statistical reach from RHIC run
4 and utilization of the full capabilities of the STAR experiment have led to a
qualitative improvement in these results. Light hadrons have been identified
out to transverse momenta ($p_T$) of 12 GeV/c, allowing for clear
identification of the dominant processes governing particle production in
different $p_T$ windows. Clean signatures of dijets have been seen even in
central Au+Au collisions. Nuclear modification factors for non-photonic
electrons, predominantly from the decay of heavy-flavored hadrons, have also
been measured out to $p_T$ of 8 GeV/c. For $p_T > \sim 6$ GeV/c, inclusive
spectra of all charged hadrons, including heavy-flavored ones, appear to be
suppressed equally strongly (by a factor of four to five) in central Au+Au
collisions relative to p+p collisions; interestingly enough, the probability of
finding a hadron from a dijet partner is suppressed to this same level.
