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. |
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Bellaire Debate
| Ranked number 1 in the nation out of 2,700 high schools by the National Forensic League. |
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| NFL School of Excellence Bellaire Debaters participated in the National Forensic League (NFL) National Speech & Debate tournament in Birmingham, Alabama June 15-19. 2009. This year marked the 51st time that Bellaire participated in the national tournament in its 54 years of existence (one of the highest totals in the country.) Louise Lu, junior earned 6th in the nation in Student Congress. This marked the second consecutive year that Louise was in the final round. Under new rules established by NFL, Louise has also earned an automatic qualification to the 2010 NFL National Speech & Debate tournament which will be held in Kansas City, Missouri. John Williams, freshman, advanced to the semi finals of Student Congress and Jacob Aronowitz, junior, and David Wang, junior, advanced to round 10 of policy debate. The efforts of all four students contributed to Bellaire Debate winning the School of Excellence in debate award. Victorious at NCFL Nats Bellaire Debaters competed at the 58th annual Nat- ional Catholic Forensic League Grand National Tourna- ment May 23-24, 2009 in Albany, New York. Several students were successful and walked away with awards from the tournament including Weiting Ji, semifinals Student Congress; Andrew Zhu & Liang Gu, double octofinals policy debate; Erik Nelson & Rohini Sigireddi, quarterfinals Public Forum debate; and Louise Lu, finals Student Congress. Nelson & Sigireddi were undefeated in preliminary rounds going 5-0 while picking up 13 of 15 possible ballots. Their loss in quarterfinals came to the team that went on to win the tournament. Next year's NCFL National tournament will be held in Omaha, NE. 2009-2010 Officers President Scott Lin Vice President Wilma Qiu Secretary David Wang Treasurer Tom Zhang Historian William Hu Press Release Rafael Go Publicity Director Rockey Wu Social Coordinators Lin Boynton & Mary Ashley Liu Extemp Captain Celina Aldape LD Captain Erik Nelson PF Captain Rohini Sigireddi CX Research Captains Luther Fan & Matt Times CX Novice Captains Liang Gu & John Wang Congress Research Captains Weiting Ji & Louise Congress Novice Captains Samantha Maher & John Williams Back to Back National Champs Bellaire Debaters defended their national championship in the Bickel & Brewer/NYU National Public Policy Forum contest by defeating Plano Senior High School April 18 on the campus of New York University. Andrew Garbarino, senior and team captain; Jacob Aronowitz, junior; Sharon Sun, junior; Wilma Qiu, junior; Matt Times, junior; and Judy Sun, junior, under the direction of coach Russell Rach sailed through the semi final round against Glenbrook North High School from Chicago, Illinois winning a 5-0 decision. The other semi final round saw Plano Senior High School defeat Deer Park High School setting up the all Texas showdown in the final round. Plano upheld the affirmative of the topic questioning whether the United States should substantially increase alternative energy incentives. In previous rounds of the competition schools exchanged papers which were read by judges. The final round gave the two schools about 3 hours to prepare. All of the arguments were presented orally in front of the seven judge panel. After opening statements by Plano Senior and Bellaire the two teams were allowed to question each others arguments. One of the things that makes the National Public Policy Forum unique from other forms of debate is the ability of the judges to question debaters from both sides as the debate is in progress. John Sexton, president of New York University; Dr. Scott Deatherage, executive director of the National Urban Debate League; J. Scott Wunn, executive director of the National Forensic League; and Melissa Maxey Wade, National Debate Project and Emory University; provided tough and probing questions. Rebuttals from each school brought the round to a conclusion. For the second consecutive year, Bellaire won the final round to claim the Bickel & Brewer Cup, the national championship and a check for $10,000. William A. Brewer III, partner at the Bickel & Brewer law firm in Dallas, and founder of the NPPF, said 180 schools registered for the contest from around the country as well as 14 foreign countries. "As a finals judge, I have seen Bellaire improve every year in its research capabilities and oral advocacy skills. These are amazing students who are always prepared." Bellaire Debate wishes to thank the Bickel & Brewer law firm, New York Uni- versity and the judges for making the National Public Policy Forum program available to students across the nation. 2 Qualify to Nationals in Student Congress Bellaire Debate concluded a very successful NFL District tournament by qualifying three students to the National Forensic League/Lincoln Fi- nancial Group National Speech & Debate tournament in Birmingham, AL in June. Louise Lu, junior, returns for her second national tournament. Joining Louise is John Williams, freshman. This is the first time in the history of Bellaire Debate that the squad has qualified two students to nationals in Student Congress. Sophomore Samantha Maher and Weiting Ji, freshman, finished as first runner-up in their cham- bers. UIL Spring Meet Results April 4, 2009 Lincoln Douglas Persuasive Eric Nelson 1st place Rohini Sigireddi 1st place Dennis Wu 2nd place Celina Aldape 5th place Current Events Informative Celina Aldape 1st place Tom Zhang 4th place Scott Lin 3rd place Welcome Back to NYC!!! Bellaire Debate advanced to the Final Four of the Bickel & Brewer/New York University National Public Policy Forum con- test by defeating Bronx School of Science from New York on a 3-0 decision. This is the fifth consecutive year Bellaire High School has ad- vanced to the Final Four. Bellaire High School is the reigning national champion in this competition. By advancing to this round, the team is eligible to win a $10,000 first place prize and an all expense paid trip to the finals competition in New York City April 17-19. "This year marks the first time this contest has included schools outside the United States," said William A. Brewer III, partner at Bickel & Brewer and founder of the NPPF. The NPPF is the only contest that gives high school students the opportunity to participate in written and oral debates on issues of public policy. The 2008-2009 competition, which annually involves more than 700 students began in October when more than 100 high schools representing 14 foreign countries and 32 states submitted essays on the topic, "Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase alternative energy in- centives in the United States." Bellaire will be facing Glenbrook North High School from Chicago, Illinois in one of the national semifinals while Deer Park High School will face Plano Senior High. Houston Chronicle article. Tournament results UIL CX State, March 20-21, 2009 Matthew Liu & Zexing Meng advanced to the octofinal round of the 99th annual University Interscholastic League State Cross Examination debate tournament held on the campus of the University of Texas March 20-21. Matthew Liu earned an award as the 5th best speaker in the tournament. His colleague Zexing Meng was the 9th best speaker out of over 100 parti- cipants. Jacob Aronowitz and David Wang also participated in the state tourna- ment compiling a record of 3 wins and 1 loss during preliminary rounds. They missed advancing to elimination rounds by a few speaker points. STATE CHAMPION Bellaire Debate enjoyed a strong showing at the 36th annual Texas Forensic Association State Speech & Debate tournament held at Cypress Ranch High School. Louise Lu (pictured right) won the state championship in Student Congress. Matthew Liu & Jacob Uzman advanced to the quarterfinal round of policy debate while Zexing Meng and Rishi Shah made it to the octofinal round of debate. Aldo Cruz and Shireen Smalley advanced to the semifinal round of Student Congress and Celina Aldape ad- vanced to the semifinal round of US Extemp. Aldo Cruz won the award for outstanding presiding officer in Student Congress, Rishi Shah earned the 5th place speaker award in policy debate and the team of Celina Aldape & Aryam Andom received 9th place speaker awards in public forum debate. The Bellaire Debate squad also won the L.D. Naeglin award given each year to the school with the highest number of cumulative state qualifications (279). The squad also received an award for earning the fifth most state qualifiers during the 2008-2009 season with 26. NFL District Tournament Results February 26-28 Bellaire High School qualified three policy debate teams at the South Texas NFL District tournament held at Lamar High School. Matthew and Jacob Uzman are returning for a second year to the NFL National Speech & Debate tournament. David Wang and Jacob Aronowitz qualified for their first time to NFL Nationals. This year's national tournament will be held June 13-20, 2009 in Birmingham, Alabama. Bellaire continued its tradition of excellence qualifying policy debate teams to the NFL national tournament for the seventh year in a row and 44 of the last 53 years. More students from Bellaire will have the opportunity to qualify for NFL Nationals at the South Texas NFL district Student Congress scheduled for April 8 at Clear Creek High School. Memorial HS Tournament Results February 20-21, 2009 CCX FX Jacob Uzman/Matt Liu 3rd place Rohini Sigireddi 1st place Congress Duo Xu 4th place Aldo Cruz 7th place The Woodlands HS Tournament Results February 20-21, 2009 CLD Congress Dennis Wu quarterfinals Judy Liu 2nd place Zhixing Yao quarterfinals Sanchit Kamble octofinals NLD Jerry Chen 3rd place Lamar HS Tournament Results February 13-14, 2009 CCX CLD Andrew Garbarino/Mary Ashley Liu 1st place Rohini Sigireddi 3rd place Henry Lu/Tom Zhang 2nd place Cara Weisman 3rd place Max Feinstein/Benjamin Zhang 3rd place Eric Nelson quarterfinals Armen-Gurgen Movsesyan/Jeffrey Wang 3rd place Xiaoyu Wang octofinals Andrew Garbarino 2nd place CCX speaker award Erik Nelson 1st place CLD speaker award Congress Samantha Maher 1st place Judy Liu 2nd place Justine Huang 4th place Christine Dang 6th place Feifei Le 7th place Tyler Quinn 8th place Bellaire Advances to Elite Eight of NPPF Bellaire Debaters advanced to the Elite Eight round of the Bickel- Brewer National Public Policy Forum competition by defeating Durham Academy from North Carolina. Bellaire upheld the negative during the Sweet 16 round. Bellaire's next opponent, Bronx School of Science from New York, advanced by defeating Del Valle High School from Texas. The winner of the Bellaire-Bronx School of Science debate will advance to the Final Four April 17-19, 2009 at New York University. Bellaire has participated in the Final Four each of the last four years, winning the competition in 2008. Click here for the Houston Chronicle story. Other Elite Eight round matchups include Glenbrook North High School (IL) vs North Allegheny High School (PA); Plano Senior (TX) vs La Salle College High School (PA); and Suncoast Community High School (FL) vs Deer Park High School (TX). Colleyville Heritage HS Tournament Results February 6-7, 2009 CCX Zexing Meng/Rishi Shah quarterfinals Matthew Liu/Jacob Uzman octofinals Rishi Shah 1st place CCX speaker award Texas City HS Tournament Results February 6-7, 2009 3rd place Overall Sweepstakes CCX CLD Max Feinstein/Benjamin Zhang 1st place Cara Weisman 3rd place Brendan Chou/Xin Xin Xu 2nd place Congress Xin Xin Xu 2nd place CCX speaker award John Williams 5th place Dalton Menn 8th place Samantha Maher finalist Justine Huang finalist Alyssa Blackburn finalist Christine Dang finalist Clear Creek HS Tournament Results January 30-31, 2009 CCX Congress Brendan Chou/Xin Xin Xu 2nd place Shireen Smalley 1st place Henry Lu/ Tom Zhang octofinals John Williams 2nd place Weiting Ji 6th place LD Aldo Cruz finalist Rohini Sigireddi octofinals Tyler Quinn finalist Romy Megahed finalist Barkley Forum Tournament Results January 23-25, 2009 Congress Weiting Ji semifinals Pasadena Memorial Tournament Results January 23-24, 2009 CCX Congress Zexing Meng/Rishi Shah 2nd place John Willliams 8th place Churchill HS Tournament Results January 16-17, 2009 Congress Foreign Extemp Louise Lu 4th place Rohini Sigireddi 7th place Aldo Cruz finalist Rishi Shah 8th place Louise Lu Outstanding Presiding Officer Magnolia HS Tournament Results January 16-17, 2009 CCX Congress Judy Sun/Sharon Sun 3rd place Duo Xu 3rd place Wenkun Zhang/Kai Zheng 3rd place Hong Yu Chen/Nikhil Roy quarterfinals Raissa Largman/Christa Chiao quarterfinals Bellaire advances to "Sweet 16" Bellaire High School is once again one step closer to winning a $10,000 grand prize in the Bickel & Brewer/New York University National Public Policy Forum (NPPF). The Bellaire debaters have advanced to the “Sweet 16” round of this international contest – the only contest in the nation that gives high school students the opportunity to participate in written and oral debates on issues of public policy. Bellaire won the 2007-2008 competition. By advancing to the round of 16, the Bellaire debaters remain eligible to win not only the $10,000 grand prize, but also an all- expenses-paid trip to the finals in New York City. “The Bellaire High School debate team has joined select company,” says William A. Brewer III, partner at Bickel & Brewer and founder of the NPPF. “The team is one of the final 16 in a debate competition that has attracted participants from all over the world.” More than 100 schools – representing 14 foreign countries and 32 states – entered the 2008-2009 NPPF competition by submitting qualifying round essays on the topic, “Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase alternative energy incentives in the United States.” The competition annually involves more than 700 students. The top 32 essays were chosen, and those schools engaged in a series of one-on-one individual written debate competitions. Schools volleyed papers back and forth, arguing in the affirmative or negative on the public policy topic. Judges reviewed the papers in the order they were received and voted for the winning school from each individual competition. The top 16 schools now advance and continue in this progressive, single-elimination written debate tournament. With its win against Trinity High School in Pennsylvania, Bellaire High School now competes against The Durham Academy in Durham, North Carolina. The final four schools will be announced in March. Those schools will receive an all-expenses paid trip to the April 17-19, 2009, NPPF Finals at New York University. After completing written and oral arguments, finalists will be honored during a special banquet and awards ceremony. The Bickel & Brewer Foundation will also award the winning team a $10,000 grand prize and the “Bickel & Brewer Cup.” The NPPF was founded by the Bickel & Brewer Foundation in 2001, and is now jointly administered with New York University. The program is available to all high schools – public and private – for free. Since its inception, the NPPF has awarded more than $600,000 in support of forensic activities at the secondary school and collegiate levels. The NPPF is endorsed by leading forensic agencies such as the National Forensic League, National Association of Urban Debate Leagues, and the International Debate Education Association. The Bickel & Brewer Foundation is a private, non-profit organization funded by companies, individuals and the national litigation firm of Bickel & Brewer. With offices in Dallas and New York, the Foundation has achieved widespread recognition for its efforts to create, fund and manage a variety of educational outreach programs. Visit the NPPF at www.nppf.net. Before Brent Spiner was Famous There are many similarities between forensicators and Lt. Commander Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Both are highly intelligent, but rarely understood by the outside world. Both aim only to evolve, to be better than what they are. And both belong to the NFL. Data, who is actually Brent Spiner, was born February 2, 1949 in Houston, TX. He was the son of Sylvia a corporate VP and Jack, a furniture store owner. When Jack suddenly died, Sylvia was left to raise the infant Brent and his brother alone. She eventually remarried a man named Sol Mintz. Although Mintz adopted Brent, Brent changed his name back to Spiner when he became a professional actor. Spiner attended Bellaire High School in Houston and was heavily in- volved in baseball and the drama club, in addition to being a member of the NFL. While on the speech team, he gained 143 points and even earned the title of Dramatic Interpretation Champion at the 1967 National Tournament (the same year actress Shelley Long won Oratory). After his success in high school, Spiner moved on to the University of Houston and began performing in local theater in Houston. Eventually he dropped out of college to move to New York City and try his acting luck there. While in New York, Spiner gained more stage acting experience, performing in several Broad- way and Off-Broadway plays, including The Three Muskateers and Stephen Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George. In 1984, Spiner decided to try film acting and moved again, this time to LA, where he appeared in several pilots and made-for-TV movies. He then auditioned for the up-and-coming show Star Trek: The Next Generation. Spiner himself was never a fan of science fiction or of the original Star Trek, but figured the show would soon be cancelled and he desperately needed the money. Starting in 1987, Spiner played Data for 15 years, during the show's 7 seasons and the 4 feature films that followed. Even when the show was cancelled in 1994, Spiner's career as a performer barely paused. He is most remembered for his role in Independence Day as Dr. Okun, the somewhat awkward chief scientist of Area 51 who is attacked and killed by his alien subjects. He has also made appearances on Law & Order, Friends, Dude, Where's My Car?, I Am Sam, and The Aviator. Spiner returned to the theater and appeared in the Broadway revival 1776 as John Adams. Unlike most of his co-stars, Spiner is not very active in the Star Trek convention scene. He has made a few appearances, but overall his lack of interest in science fiction gets the best of him. However, he still regards Patrick Stewart and Lavar Burton as two of his best friends. One of the challenges forensicators face is finding the human element in their events; to not be robotic and detached, but simply themselves. It is this crucial element that separates the good from the great. As the character Data, Spiner sums up the NFL experience the best "If being human is not simply a matter of being born flesh and blood - if it is instead a way of thinking, acting, and feeling, then I am hopeful that one day I will discover my humanity. Until then...I will continue learning, changing, growing, and trying to become more than what I am." Reprinted from the National Forensic League http:www.nflonline.org News & Stories from September, 2008 - December, 2008 |
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. |
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