This week on Dialectica: Producer/Host Josh Haney takes you inside today's biggest debate in education politics: value-added teacher evaluations. Guests include education policy expert Cynthia Dunbar, an Associate Professor at the University of Texas at Austin, and Ms. Lesa Haney, a classroom evaluator, former teacher, and yes, Josh's mom.

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Producer/Host C.P. Smith and Co-Host David Smith explore the present case and future possibilities for health care reform.

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This week on Dialectica: Producer/Host Sachin Shah examines the role of state water policy in managing droughts and other water needs of Texans. Guests include Bob Joseph, Director of the U.S. Geological Survey Texas Water Science Center, Dr. Bill Hutchison, Director of the Groundwater Resources Division of the Texas Water Development Board.

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This week on Dialectica: Producer/Host Margarita Jimenez examines the effect of the economic downturn on those living in poverty in the Austin area. Interview subjects include: Karen Ranus, Director of Outreach Services at St. Austin Catholic Parish; Sharon Bieser, Executive Director of Vincare Services of Austin; and Lacey Strake, from the Austin chapter of Brake the Cycle of Poverty.

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This week on Dialectica: Producer C. P. Smith and host Selina Smith present the second in a two-part series on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Part II reviews the changes in NATO since the demise of the Soviet Union as well as the challenges NATO must manage to remain a relevant international defense organization.

Special guests:
Colonel Ron Sullivan, USAF (Ret), Business Manager for SAIC
Professor Thomas Johnson, Research Professor, Naval Postgraduate School and Director of Culture and Conflict Studies, Department of National Security Affairs.

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This week on Dialectica: Producer C. P. Smith and host Selina Smith present the first in a two-part series on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Part I reviews NATO's historical context as well as the challenges NATO is facing.

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This week on Dialectica: Producer/Host James Tanner presents the second in a two-part series on the history and relevance of quantitative finance. Part II explores how attempts by quantitative experts to address key financial problems – random price movement and risk correlation – eventually led to the widespread adoption of the Gaussian Copula Formula in finance, which in turn contributed to the current economic crisis.

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This week on Dialectica: Producer/Host James Tanner presents the first in a two-part series on the history and relevance of quantitative finance. Part I explores how statistical methods found their way from the halls of government to the casino and finally to Wall Street, culminating in the rise and fall of the massive hedge fund Long Term Capital Management.

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Tonight on Dialectica: Members of Citizens for Local and State Service (or C.L.A.S.S.) discuss the upcoming mayoral debate, organized by C.L.A.S.S. and televised on KXAN on April 22, 2009. Producer Rebecca Takahashi and co-hosts Kate Mason and Erin Boeke Burke are joined by David Kobeirowski, an Austin community activist, host of "Truth Austin" and the weekly forum "Dave Has Issues", as well as KOOP Radio programs "Neighborly Conversations" and "Texas Politics Today." C.L.A.S.S. is a student-run organization at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, whose mission is to promote and engage policy students in local politics and governance.


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Host/Co-Producer Axel Gerdau introduces the work of the Energy Technology Transition Project through interviews with project co-instructor, LBJ professor, and Interim Dean of the Jackson School of Geosciences Dr. Charles G. Groat, and fellow project and LBJ colleagues James Ovelmen, Melissa Lott and Kymberlie Koch, outlining their report and its recommendations.

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