Question: If I have a URL like asdf.com/index.php?a=0&b=2, then using $\_GET for `a` would be 0 and for `b` would be 2. However, the term I put into a single $\_GET function has an ampersand in it already, like a=Steak&Cheese. Is there a way to make ampersands work without the $\_GET variable thinking its job ends when the ampersand shows up (therefore not pulling the entire term)?

Answer: 
Yes, you must URL Encode before request URL. Read this <http://www.w3schools.com/TAGS/ref_urlencode.asp>
Here is a previous post covering this in jquery AJAX requests, but to summarize you have to encoded the uri. This will convert the ampersand value to a ascii value. 
[Ampersand in GET, PHP](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2748042/ampersand-in-get-php)