Bellaire Debate
| Ranked number 1 in the nation out of 2,700 high schools by the National Forensic League. |
A mission statement
or quote about the
firm.
or quote about the
firm.
| Navigation Bar Placeholder |
Bellaire Debate
| Ranked number 1 in the nation out of 2,700 high schools by the National Forensic League. |
| Member of the National Forensic League since 1955. |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
Bellaire Cashes in at
NFL Vegas Nationals
Bellaire Debate participated in the
78th National Forensic League (NFL)
National Speech & Debate tourna-
ment hosted by the Clark County
School District in Las Vegas,
Nevada June 15-20, 2008.
Sophomore Louise Lu advanced to
the final round of the John C. Stennis
Student Congress. This Louise's
first trip to NFL Nationals. Senior
Muthu Alagappan earned 11th place
in United States Extemp. Muthu
finished in the top 30 in the nation at
the 2007 NFL Nationals. Matthew Liu and Jacob Uzman advanced to elimination rounds in policy
debate and competed through round 9. Scott Lin and Xinxin Wang qualified for the national
tournament and competed in policy debate. This tournament represents a fine ending tothe 2007-
2008 tournament season.
2008-2009 Bellaire Debate Officers
Jacob Uzman President
Matthew Liu Vice President
Louise Lu Secretary
Lara Brenner Treasurer
John Wang Publicity Director
William Hu Historian
Liang Gu Press Release
Devin Wang Social Coordinator
Scott Lin CX Research Captain
Wilma Qiu CX Research Captain
Jacob Aronowitz CX Novice Captain
Luther Fan CX Novice Captain
Tanya Chen LD Captain
Erik Nelson LD Captain
Rohini Sigireddi LD Captain
Bellaire Wins National Honors Again
Bellaire High School participated in the 57th National Catholic Forensic League Grand National
Tournament May 24-25 in Appleton, Wisconsin. The NCFL Grand National Tournament is the
tournament that Bellaire co-hosted in 2007. Bellaire Debate was one of only five schools in the
country to earn the Eleanor E. Wright Award of Excellence in Debate. All of our students who
participated in Policy Debate, Lincoln Douglas, and Public Forum debate earned sweepstakes points
which determined the winners of this important award. Individual honors were earned by Muthu
Alagappan who won 2nd place in the nation in Lincoln Douglas debate.Muthu was one ballot away
from winning the national championship (3-2 decision in finals). Jacob Aronowitz and David Wang
advanced to the quarterfinal round of policy debate. Jacob and David won their double octofinals
and octofinals rounds before losing to LaSalle HS from Philadelphia that eventually finished second in
the tournament. Scott Lin and Xinxin Wang also advanced to the double octofinals round. Bellaire
last won the NCFL Excellence in Debate award in 2001.
Bellaire NPPF National Champions
Bellaire High School now has the number one
debate team in the country after winning the
finals in New York City this last weekend. The
fourth time was the charm for Bellaire. After
competing in the Bickel & Brewer/New York
University National Public Policy Forum (NPPF)
finals four consecutive years, the team Chris
Fan, Chelsea Zhang, Andrew Garbarino, Shanna
Chu, Jenny Fan, Satish Vemuri and Vijay
Kasschau won first place in the national debate
competition. The students were awarded $10,000 in scholarships and the "Bickel & Brewer Cup" at
a special ceremony Saturday evening on the New York University campus.
The NPPF is the only national contest that gives high school students the opportunity to participate in
written and oral debates of public policy. This year's competition began in October when students
from more than 100 high schools (representing 26 states) submitted case studies on this year's topic,
"Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its AIDS/HIV public
health assistance to Sub-Saharan Africa."
From the original pool, sixteen advanced to a single elimination written debate tournament. These
teams volleyed debates back and forth via e-mail, with judges narrowing the field to eight teams and
then to fourover a six month period. The Final Four teams competed this past weekend at NYU.
Debate team coach Russell Rach said, "This is the
fourth year Bellaire has gone to the finals in New York.
We placed second last year, but our students were
determined to win it all this year, and put in the extra
time and effort to get there. I'm extremely proud of
the accomplishments of our student debaters."
The finals competition is a unique test of research
and oral advocacy skills. On Saturday morning, the
team presented their positions before a panel of judges
that included some of the world's foremost experts in
law, business and debate. The Bellaire team defeated
the team from Kahuku, Hawaii in the semifinals and in the final round defeated the team from
Colleyville Heritage High School in Texas to take home the grand prize.
For additional information and coverage see the Houston Chronicle and ABC 13 story from their
websites.
NFL District results April 24-26
Bellaire Debaters participated in the South
Texas NFL speech/debate district tourna-
ment at Westside HS. Scott Lin & Xinxin
Wang won 1st place in CX debate. Matt Liu
& Jacob Uzman placed second in CX and
Muthu Alagappan won 3rd place in United
States Extemp. This will be Xinxin's second
trip to the NFL National Speech and Debate
Tournament and Muthu's third trip. The
tournament will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada
June 14-21.
More Winners from Words That Shook the World
Karthik Prasad won $7,000 in scholarships from the Science/Technology speaking contest
sponsored by Sandia Laboratories and Words That Shook the World. Karthik's speech on
nanotechnology earned him second place and a visit to Sandia Laboratories this summer. Grace Sun
won $5,000 in scholarships in the Diversity contest sponsored by Lockheed Martin and Words That
Shook the World.
NFL District Student Congress April 5
The South Texas NFL district hosted its Student Congress qualifier at Clear Creek High School April
5. Louise Lu qualified for the NFL National Speech/Debate tournament by winning first place in
House 2. Jacob Aronowitz earned 3rd place in House 1,
UIL Spring Meet results March 27-28
Persuasive Speaking LD
Muthu Alagappan 2nd place Dennis Wu 3rd place
Celina Aldape 3rd place
Rishi Shah 4th place
Victorious at UIL CX State
The University Interscholastic League (UIL) held its
Cross Examination Debate State Tournament on the
campus of the University of Texas March 14-15. Two
Bellaire teams participated in the tournament and two
teams placed. Matthew Liu & Jacob Uzman won 2nd
place and Jenny Fan & Shubha Soman won 3rd place.
It is the second time in four years that Bellaire Debaters
have earned 2nd at the state tournament. The 3rd place
finish marks the fourteenth time Bellaire Debaters have
earned the achievement.
TFA State results March 6-8
The Texas Forensic Association (TFA) state tournament was held March 6-8 in Dallas. The
tournament started with an unexpected snow storm which cut short the first day of competition. In
the end Wilma Qiu & Chelsea Zhang dropped in the partial triple octofinal round of CX debate and
Grace Sun earned 9th place in Student Congress. Next year the TFA State tournament will be hosted
in the Houston area.
Bellaire Debaters advance to Final Four
For the fourth consecutive year Bellaire Debaters will be participating in the Final Four of the National
Public Policy Forum tournament sponsored by the Bickel & Brewer Law Firm. This year's team
advanced by defeating Clear Lake High School in the quarterfinal round. Our students will receive an
all expense paid trip to New York City April 25-27 to compete for the Bickel Brewer Cup and $10,000.
Lamar HS tournament results February 8-9
CCX CLD
Sean Chang/Tom Zhang 1st place Dennis Wu octofinals
Meryl Nolan/Devin Wang 2nd place Rohini Sigireddi octofinals
John Wang/Rockey Wu quarterfinals
Jenny Fan/Shubha Soman quarterfinals
Texas City HS tournament results February 1-2
CCX
Meryl Nolan/Devin Wang 3rd place
Kingwood HS tournament results February 1-2
CCX
Henry Lu/Michael Feng 1st place
Ruyi Yao/Judy Sun 3rd place
Luther Fan/Rafael Go quarterfinals
Eisenhower HS tournament results January 25-26
CCX CLD
Sean Chang/Tom Zhang 3rd place Karthik Prasad 2nd place
Essay Eden/Andrew Garbarino 3rd place Wolfgang Minskey quarterfinals
Saloni Singh/Brendan Fradkin quarterfinals
Wilma Qui/Chelsea Zhang quarterfinals
Jenny Fan/Shubha Soman quarterfinals
Ruyi Yao/Judy Sun octofinals
Churchill HS tournament results January 18-19
CLD
Muthu Alagappan quarterfinals
Aldine HS tournament results January 18-19
CCX Student Congress
Wilma Qiu/Chelsea Zhang 1st Place Louise Lu 4th place
Jacob Aronowitz/David Wang 3rd Place Grace Sun 5th place
CLD
Kaylor Wright octofinals
Grace Sun earns $3,750 scholarship
Grace Sun earned a $3,750 scholarship by placing third in the
Words That Shook the World contest. Her final speech was
given on nationwide radio on the Air America radio network.
Click here to listen to Grace's speech. Grace's speech examined
racism in America. In addition to winning the scholarship,
Grace will have the opportunity to appear on the Air America
radio network on a weekly basis on a program called "Teen
Clout" which is designed to give teens a way to share their
views on the important issues of the day with a nationwide radio
audience. The contest was being judged by Melissa Fitzgerald who plays Carol on The West Wing
and Dr. Edgar Mitchell who was on the Apollo 14 mission. Dr. Mitchell was the 6th person to walk
on the surface of the moon. Also judging the finals is Mark LeBlanc, the president of the National
Speakers Association and Azah Awasum the 2006 winner of the Words that Shook the World contest.
Melissa Fitzgerald Dr. Edgar Mitchell Mark LeBlanc Azah Awasum
Katy HS tournament results January 11-12
3rd place Overall Sweepstakes
CCX CLD
Zexing Meng/Rishi Shah 1st place Karthik Prasad semifinals
Erik Nelson octofinals
Bellaire Debaters advance to Elite Eight of NPPC
For the 4th consecutive year Bellaire Debaters have advanced to the
Elite Eight round of the Bickel & Brewer National Public Policy Forum
competition. Satish Vemuri, Jenny Fan, Shanna Chu, Andrew
Garbarino, Chris Fan, Chelsea Zhang, and Saloni Singh worked together
to produce the paper that defeated Coppell High School (from Dallas)
on a 2-1 decision in the Sweet 16 round. Bellaire High School is the
only school from those that participated in the Final Four from 2007
that still remains in competition for 2008.
Bellaire will face Clear Lake High School in the Elite Eight round. Clear
Lake defeated Henry Clay High School from Lexington, Kentucky in the
Sweet 16 round. Bellaire defeated Henry Clay High School last year in
the semifinal round of the NPPF.
The NPPF is the only national contest that gives high school students the opportunity to participate in
written and oral debates on issues of public policy. The topic for this tournament is Resolved: The
United States federal government should substantially increase its AIDS/HIV public health
assistance to Sub-Saharan Africa. More than 100 high schools from 26 states participated in the
national competition.
Westfield HS tournament results January 5-6
CCX CLD
Scott Lin/Xinxin Wang 1st place Karthik Prasad semifinals
Satish Vemuri/Vijay Kasschau 2nd place Muthu Alagappan quarterfinals
Zexing Meng/Rishi Shah quarterfinals Rohini Sigireddi quarterfinals
Matthew Liu/Jacob Uzman octofinals Thomas Lei octofinals
Dennis Wu double octofinals
NCX
Sophee Gao/Wen Fang quarterfinals Public Forum
Aryam Andom/Ngozi Lawanson semifinals
Vijay Kasschau 2nd place Speaker Award CCX
Thomas Lei 3rd place Speaker Award CLD
WTSTW Semi-Finalists
Six students from Bellaire High School advanced to the semifinal
round of the Words That Shook the World contest. Katherine
Freeman Steven Maheshwary, Erik Nelson, Karthik Prasad,
Grace Sun and Judy Sun advanced to the next level of the
competition. Hundreds of students from across the country
submitted speeches on the topic "My Message for America."
Experts from the public speaking field will now review the
speeches of each semifinalist. From the semifinal group 10
students will advance to the final round. Finalists are expected to be announced on Tuesday,
January 15. The finalists will perform live on Richard Greene's radio program on Air America on
Monday, January 21,2008.
NFL Vegas Nationals
Bellaire Debate participated in the
78th National Forensic League (NFL)
National Speech & Debate tourna-
ment hosted by the Clark County
School District in Las Vegas,
Nevada June 15-20, 2008.
Sophomore Louise Lu advanced to
the final round of the John C. Stennis
Student Congress. This Louise's
first trip to NFL Nationals. Senior
Muthu Alagappan earned 11th place
in United States Extemp. Muthu
finished in the top 30 in the nation at
the 2007 NFL Nationals. Matthew Liu and Jacob Uzman advanced to elimination rounds in policy
debate and competed through round 9. Scott Lin and Xinxin Wang qualified for the national
tournament and competed in policy debate. This tournament represents a fine ending tothe 2007-
2008 tournament season.
2008-2009 Bellaire Debate Officers
Jacob Uzman President
Matthew Liu Vice President
Louise Lu Secretary
Lara Brenner Treasurer
John Wang Publicity Director
William Hu Historian
Liang Gu Press Release
Devin Wang Social Coordinator
Scott Lin CX Research Captain
Wilma Qiu CX Research Captain
Jacob Aronowitz CX Novice Captain
Luther Fan CX Novice Captain
Tanya Chen LD Captain
Erik Nelson LD Captain
Rohini Sigireddi LD Captain
Bellaire Wins National Honors Again
Bellaire High School participated in the 57th National Catholic Forensic League Grand National
Tournament May 24-25 in Appleton, Wisconsin. The NCFL Grand National Tournament is the
tournament that Bellaire co-hosted in 2007. Bellaire Debate was one of only five schools in the
country to earn the Eleanor E. Wright Award of Excellence in Debate. All of our students who
participated in Policy Debate, Lincoln Douglas, and Public Forum debate earned sweepstakes points
which determined the winners of this important award. Individual honors were earned by Muthu
Alagappan who won 2nd place in the nation in Lincoln Douglas debate.Muthu was one ballot away
from winning the national championship (3-2 decision in finals). Jacob Aronowitz and David Wang
advanced to the quarterfinal round of policy debate. Jacob and David won their double octofinals
and octofinals rounds before losing to LaSalle HS from Philadelphia that eventually finished second in
the tournament. Scott Lin and Xinxin Wang also advanced to the double octofinals round. Bellaire
last won the NCFL Excellence in Debate award in 2001.
Bellaire NPPF National Champions
Bellaire High School now has the number one
debate team in the country after winning the
finals in New York City this last weekend. The
fourth time was the charm for Bellaire. After
competing in the Bickel & Brewer/New York
University National Public Policy Forum (NPPF)
finals four consecutive years, the team Chris
Fan, Chelsea Zhang, Andrew Garbarino, Shanna
Chu, Jenny Fan, Satish Vemuri and Vijay
Kasschau won first place in the national debate
competition. The students were awarded $10,000 in scholarships and the "Bickel & Brewer Cup" at
a special ceremony Saturday evening on the New York University campus.
The NPPF is the only national contest that gives high school students the opportunity to participate in
written and oral debates of public policy. This year's competition began in October when students
from more than 100 high schools (representing 26 states) submitted case studies on this year's topic,
"Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its AIDS/HIV public
health assistance to Sub-Saharan Africa."
From the original pool, sixteen advanced to a single elimination written debate tournament. These
teams volleyed debates back and forth via e-mail, with judges narrowing the field to eight teams and
then to fourover a six month period. The Final Four teams competed this past weekend at NYU.
Debate team coach Russell Rach said, "This is the
fourth year Bellaire has gone to the finals in New York.
We placed second last year, but our students were
determined to win it all this year, and put in the extra
time and effort to get there. I'm extremely proud of
the accomplishments of our student debaters."
The finals competition is a unique test of research
and oral advocacy skills. On Saturday morning, the
team presented their positions before a panel of judges
that included some of the world's foremost experts in
law, business and debate. The Bellaire team defeated
the team from Kahuku, Hawaii in the semifinals and in the final round defeated the team from
Colleyville Heritage High School in Texas to take home the grand prize.
For additional information and coverage see the Houston Chronicle and ABC 13 story from their
websites.
NFL District results April 24-26
Bellaire Debaters participated in the South
Texas NFL speech/debate district tourna-
ment at Westside HS. Scott Lin & Xinxin
Wang won 1st place in CX debate. Matt Liu
& Jacob Uzman placed second in CX and
Muthu Alagappan won 3rd place in United
States Extemp. This will be Xinxin's second
trip to the NFL National Speech and Debate
Tournament and Muthu's third trip. The
tournament will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada
June 14-21.
More Winners from Words That Shook the World
Karthik Prasad won $7,000 in scholarships from the Science/Technology speaking contest
sponsored by Sandia Laboratories and Words That Shook the World. Karthik's speech on
nanotechnology earned him second place and a visit to Sandia Laboratories this summer. Grace Sun
won $5,000 in scholarships in the Diversity contest sponsored by Lockheed Martin and Words That
Shook the World.
NFL District Student Congress April 5
The South Texas NFL district hosted its Student Congress qualifier at Clear Creek High School April
5. Louise Lu qualified for the NFL National Speech/Debate tournament by winning first place in
House 2. Jacob Aronowitz earned 3rd place in House 1,
UIL Spring Meet results March 27-28
Persuasive Speaking LD
Muthu Alagappan 2nd place Dennis Wu 3rd place
Celina Aldape 3rd place
Rishi Shah 4th place
Victorious at UIL CX State
The University Interscholastic League (UIL) held its
Cross Examination Debate State Tournament on the
campus of the University of Texas March 14-15. Two
Bellaire teams participated in the tournament and two
teams placed. Matthew Liu & Jacob Uzman won 2nd
place and Jenny Fan & Shubha Soman won 3rd place.
It is the second time in four years that Bellaire Debaters
have earned 2nd at the state tournament. The 3rd place
finish marks the fourteenth time Bellaire Debaters have
earned the achievement.
TFA State results March 6-8
The Texas Forensic Association (TFA) state tournament was held March 6-8 in Dallas. The
tournament started with an unexpected snow storm which cut short the first day of competition. In
the end Wilma Qiu & Chelsea Zhang dropped in the partial triple octofinal round of CX debate and
Grace Sun earned 9th place in Student Congress. Next year the TFA State tournament will be hosted
in the Houston area.
Bellaire Debaters advance to Final Four
For the fourth consecutive year Bellaire Debaters will be participating in the Final Four of the National
Public Policy Forum tournament sponsored by the Bickel & Brewer Law Firm. This year's team
advanced by defeating Clear Lake High School in the quarterfinal round. Our students will receive an
all expense paid trip to New York City April 25-27 to compete for the Bickel Brewer Cup and $10,000.
Lamar HS tournament results February 8-9
CCX CLD
Sean Chang/Tom Zhang 1st place Dennis Wu octofinals
Meryl Nolan/Devin Wang 2nd place Rohini Sigireddi octofinals
John Wang/Rockey Wu quarterfinals
Jenny Fan/Shubha Soman quarterfinals
Texas City HS tournament results February 1-2
CCX
Meryl Nolan/Devin Wang 3rd place
Kingwood HS tournament results February 1-2
CCX
Henry Lu/Michael Feng 1st place
Ruyi Yao/Judy Sun 3rd place
Luther Fan/Rafael Go quarterfinals
Eisenhower HS tournament results January 25-26
CCX CLD
Sean Chang/Tom Zhang 3rd place Karthik Prasad 2nd place
Essay Eden/Andrew Garbarino 3rd place Wolfgang Minskey quarterfinals
Saloni Singh/Brendan Fradkin quarterfinals
Wilma Qui/Chelsea Zhang quarterfinals
Jenny Fan/Shubha Soman quarterfinals
Ruyi Yao/Judy Sun octofinals
Churchill HS tournament results January 18-19
CLD
Muthu Alagappan quarterfinals
Aldine HS tournament results January 18-19
CCX Student Congress
Wilma Qiu/Chelsea Zhang 1st Place Louise Lu 4th place
Jacob Aronowitz/David Wang 3rd Place Grace Sun 5th place
CLD
Kaylor Wright octofinals
Grace Sun earns $3,750 scholarship
Grace Sun earned a $3,750 scholarship by placing third in the
Words That Shook the World contest. Her final speech was
given on nationwide radio on the Air America radio network.
Click here to listen to Grace's speech. Grace's speech examined
racism in America. In addition to winning the scholarship,
Grace will have the opportunity to appear on the Air America
radio network on a weekly basis on a program called "Teen
Clout" which is designed to give teens a way to share their
views on the important issues of the day with a nationwide radio
audience. The contest was being judged by Melissa Fitzgerald who plays Carol on The West Wing
and Dr. Edgar Mitchell who was on the Apollo 14 mission. Dr. Mitchell was the 6th person to walk
on the surface of the moon. Also judging the finals is Mark LeBlanc, the president of the National
Speakers Association and Azah Awasum the 2006 winner of the Words that Shook the World contest.
Melissa Fitzgerald Dr. Edgar Mitchell Mark LeBlanc Azah Awasum
Katy HS tournament results January 11-12
3rd place Overall Sweepstakes
CCX CLD
Zexing Meng/Rishi Shah 1st place Karthik Prasad semifinals
Erik Nelson octofinals
Bellaire Debaters advance to Elite Eight of NPPC
For the 4th consecutive year Bellaire Debaters have advanced to the
Elite Eight round of the Bickel & Brewer National Public Policy Forum
competition. Satish Vemuri, Jenny Fan, Shanna Chu, Andrew
Garbarino, Chris Fan, Chelsea Zhang, and Saloni Singh worked together
to produce the paper that defeated Coppell High School (from Dallas)
on a 2-1 decision in the Sweet 16 round. Bellaire High School is the
only school from those that participated in the Final Four from 2007
that still remains in competition for 2008.
Bellaire will face Clear Lake High School in the Elite Eight round. Clear
Lake defeated Henry Clay High School from Lexington, Kentucky in the
Sweet 16 round. Bellaire defeated Henry Clay High School last year in
the semifinal round of the NPPF.
The NPPF is the only national contest that gives high school students the opportunity to participate in
written and oral debates on issues of public policy. The topic for this tournament is Resolved: The
United States federal government should substantially increase its AIDS/HIV public health
assistance to Sub-Saharan Africa. More than 100 high schools from 26 states participated in the
national competition.
Westfield HS tournament results January 5-6
CCX CLD
Scott Lin/Xinxin Wang 1st place Karthik Prasad semifinals
Satish Vemuri/Vijay Kasschau 2nd place Muthu Alagappan quarterfinals
Zexing Meng/Rishi Shah quarterfinals Rohini Sigireddi quarterfinals
Matthew Liu/Jacob Uzman octofinals Thomas Lei octofinals
Dennis Wu double octofinals
NCX
Sophee Gao/Wen Fang quarterfinals Public Forum
Aryam Andom/Ngozi Lawanson semifinals
Vijay Kasschau 2nd place Speaker Award CCX
Thomas Lei 3rd place Speaker Award CLD
WTSTW Semi-Finalists
Six students from Bellaire High School advanced to the semifinal
round of the Words That Shook the World contest. Katherine
Freeman Steven Maheshwary, Erik Nelson, Karthik Prasad,
Grace Sun and Judy Sun advanced to the next level of the
competition. Hundreds of students from across the country
submitted speeches on the topic "My Message for America."
Experts from the public speaking field will now review the
speeches of each semifinalist. From the semifinal group 10
students will advance to the final round. Finalists are expected to be announced on Tuesday,
January 15. The finalists will perform live on Richard Greene's radio program on Air America on
Monday, January 21,2008.
