how come when I render a video, lets say its about 7 minutes.....then you go and make a SMAAAAALLLL change, like adjust the audio on one clip, or trim one clip of video.....how come it has to re-render the ENTIRE sequence again? shouldnt the majority of it still be rendered???

If you're smart rendering, then only the area affected by the small change needs re-rendering (assuming DV, XDCAM, or HDV). However, if you change something at a TRACK level, then the entire track is changed.
Rendering is like baking a cake; once you put it into the oven, it's hard to add or subtract ingredients.
That said, adjusting the audio for example, should never force a re-render.
to which format are you rendering? If it's MPEG2 for DVD, then it'll always require a re-render of the entire timeline.

that would be the answer then. I am rendering to MPEG 2.

thanks!