Catharine’s Cheerleaders: Four competitions, four trophies at Nationals
Once again, the St. Catharine Academy
JV and Varsity Cheerleading teams
excelled at the National High School
Cheerleading Championship and the
World School Competition, USA Canada
division, in Orlando, Florida, February
7-9, 2020. Nationals, sponsored by
the Universal Cheerleading Association
(UCA), is considered to be the most prestigious
high school cheerleading championship
in the country.
The JV, coached by Emily Cozzi,
Shaylin Scott, Tori Ramos, and Amanda
Turner, competed in JV Game Day and
JV Traditional Cheer, Non-Tumbling Division.
New to Game Day, the JV placed
7th. In JV Traditional Cheer, the team
placed 4th.
For the 11th year in a row Varsity,
coached by Nicole Sallustio, Christine
Roth and Tara Bellaby, qualifi ed for Finals,
this year placing 6th in the Small
Varsity Division II, considered to be the
biggest, toughest, and most competitive
tumbling division in the entire country.
The Varsity also competed in the World
BRONX TIMES REPORTER,46 FEBRUARY 21-27, 2020 BTR
School Cheerleading Competition, placing
2nd in the USA Canada division.
“This year was all about resilience,”
said Varsity Coach Nicole Sallustio.
“The team overcame so many obstacles
to achieve their success at Nationals. We
are so proud of them. Being strong and
consistent is something we take pride in.
It’s the foundation of our program. We’re
very pleased that the JV has learned this
as well.”
JV and Game Day Cheerleaders are:
Tara Campbell, Saige Duncan, Hailey
Ascensio, Claudia Vieni, Kailynn Delgado,
Jenna DeLeon, Veronica Lawton,
Mia Hicks, Alyssa Evans, Ashley Fortunato
de Leon, Alicea Morales, Jsenia Rodriguez,
Karina Rodriguez, and Shania
Smith.
Varsity Cheerleaders are: Mackenzie
Brickley, Victoria Ventola, Victoria Vieni,
Katherine Lucania, Hailey Mahoney,
Kiya Gooden, Heaven Powell, Alyssa Monaco,
Alexia Smith, Sarabeth Vasquez,
Alexa Costanz, Franchesca Gonzalez,
and Tatiyanna Lopez.
JV Cheerleaders in stunt with trophy Varsity Cheerleaders with trophy
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BY FRANK VERNUCCIO
There is a growing realization
that the reason for the
vitriolic tone in America’s political
debates is not the usual
party or even ideological rivalry.
Increasingly, it is a gap
between views of what a government
is for, what it can
realistically achieve, and to
whom it owes responsibility.
This can be seen in issues
from the national to the local
level.
Proponents, for example,
of open borders confl ict with
those that stress a nation already
$23 trillion in debt
shouldn’t take in vast numbers
of people who lack the
means to fend for themselves.
A 2017 report from the Federation
for American Immigration
Reform outlines the
extraordinary fi scal burden
imposed on U.S. taxpayers by
illegal immigrants.
“At the federal, state, and
local levels, taxpayers shell
out approximately $134.9 billion
to cover the costs incurred
by the presence of more than
12.5 million illegal aliens, and
about 4.2 million citizen children
of illegal aliens. That
amounts to a tax burden of approximately
$8,075 per illegal
alien family member and a total
of $115,894,597,664. The total
cost of illegal immigration
to U.S. taxpayers is both staggering
and crippling. In 2013,
FAIR estimated the total cost
to be approximately $113 billion.
So, in under four years,
the cost has risen nearly $3
billion. This is a disturbing
and unsustainable trend.”
Comparing the open southern
border with prior periods
of mass immigration ignores
the reality that the mandate to
being able to be self-supporting
has a long history. Today’s
illegal immigrants enter with
the expectation of government
assistance. Dan Stein, writing
in The Hill explains: “The very
fi rst comprehensive federal
immigration law — enacted in
1882 — included a bar against
the admission of “any person
unable to take care of himself
or herself without becoming
a public charge.” In fact, forwell
over a century, admissibility
determinations were
primarily based on an alien’s
prospective ability to earn a
living in the United States. In
1952, the Immigration and Nationality
Act, which governs
all matters pertaining to legal
immigration, reinforced
this concept. In 1996, during
sweeping reforms to both welfare
and immigration, Congress
restated the expectation
that immigrants arrive in the
United States fi nancially selfsuffi
cient.”
In their concern for illegal
immigrants despite the costs
and risks of increased crime
and communicable disease,
politicians raise a key question.
As offi cials elected to
represent the needs of their
constituents, do they have
the right to encumber taxpayers
for purposes other than
the general needs of the citizenry?
Michael Lind, writes in
Politico: “For multicultural
globalists, national boundaries
are increasingly obsolete
and perhaps even immoral.
According to the emerging
progressive orthodoxy, the
identities that count are subnational
(race, gender, orientation)
and supranational (citizenship
of the world). While
not necessarily representative
of Democratic voters, progressive
pundits and journalists
increasingly speak a dialect
of ethical cosmopolitanism
or globalism — the idea that
it is unjust to discriminate in
favor of one’s fellow nationals
against citizens of foreign
countries.”
Some of the candidates
currently seeking their party’s
nomination for the presidency
have odd ideas about
what a government is for. Michael
Bloomberg, for example,
believes that government
should make dietary choices
for the people. He would be
hard-pressed to fi nd any justifi
cation for that role in the
nation’s foundational documents.
The clash appears on a
local level as well. Kalman
Yeger, a NYC Councilman, recently
noted: “Between June
and December last year, the
City Council held six hearings
and votes to pass three new
laws about birds. Yes, that’s
not a typo. Birds. During the
same time, the number of City
Council hearings devoted to
skyrocketing taxes? Zero. Rising
antisemitism and hate
crimes? Zero. Failing public
schools? Zero. The homeless
crisis, spiking crime, crumbling
public housing, the state
of public transportation? The
Council’s priorities are completely
out of whack.”