DESIGNING AND PREPARING TO IMPLEMENT AN EVALUATION Research Paper

DESIGNING AND PREPARING TO IMPLEMENT AN EVALUATION - Research Paper Example For this reason, there is need to evaluate the use of Vermont Immunization Registry and incorporate it into a family medical center. Rationale Center for Disease Control argues that the recent increase in immunization of children has led to the increase in diseases like Polio, Measles, and Pneumonia, because there is no good database that is able to record all the vaccines that a child has been given. For this reason, CDC decided that Vermont Immunization Registry be evaluated to determine its strengths and weaknesses. Immunization has been identified as a cost effective and beneficial means through which new infections are eradiated or reduced. This project entails the creation of a computerized system through which immunization records can be safely kept and maintained. It is for this reason that the Vermont Immunization Registry (IMR) was implemented into the Family Medical Center. The registry was to promote quality and efficient treatment for the patients and to ensure that all immunizations are done on time and proper records kept. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2004) immunization has succeeded in eradicating diseases such as smallpox, measles, poliomyelitis, and rubella worldwide (Meri, Jordens, & Jarva, 2008). A computerized system for maintaining records of immunization is needed. The system should track the immunization dates, printed school, and parent reports. It is essential in guiding and timing the appropriate time for administration of vaccines. Health care providers for the past two years have scattered the medical record papers. Parents, therefore, find themselves looking for their immunization records. This has helped in saving many by ensuring that the right vaccine is administered to the children (Maciosek et al., 2006). Statement of the Problem Most of the parents struggle with vaccination procedures and dates. The research provides ways of training parents on how to access their vaccination data through the compu ter at any time. Most of the nurses, doctors, and family members are also facing a challenge in utilizing this program hence the need for evaluation Purpose of Evaluation It is important for health services, doctors, and patients to access their vaccination information at any time. This report shows the efficiency and advantages of accessing this information. This study will evaluate the effectiveness of Solution Criteria To be able to access vaccination data at any place all over the world Proposed Task Statement The problem can be solved by installing a computer guide on how to correctly input the data. Allocation of resources by the management also needs to be revised. Stakeholders Primary CDC- they are the reference point and ensure they support fully the evaluation program. They are also responsible for the evaluation program. Financial Committee- The director of finance must ensure allocation of funds for the evaluation program for all the hospitals within US. Secondary Stakeh olders Supervisors-Supervisors will be in charge of ensuring that there is proper training of the medical staff and ensure full participation of all those involved. Volunteers Staff and Parents Volunteer’s staff and parents will be responsible for taking part in the training program to ensure there is full evaluation of the Vermont Immunization Registry for the future. Tertiary Stakeholders Investors-this will include the private and public investors who are aiming at supplying the computer machines and upgrade programs. Key Evaluation Questions The evaluation of this training program will aim to answer the following questions: 1. What do the volunteers, staff, supervisors, and upper level management think about the current training program? 2. What are those that partake in the training learning as a result of

What will the world be like in 100 years Personal prediction Essay

What will the world be like in 100 years Personal prediction - Essay Example As this approach toward further modernization proceeds, people could not help raise more demands to advance technology or the state-of-the-art means of generating material desires in enormous quantities. In which case, it becomes easier to visualize that in 100 years, human beings would have attained to the level of mutated intelligence or one that is typically associated to the myths of aliens or supernatural entities, having been accustomed to running things and lives with pure engines. If as early as the current generation, people have been exposed to seeing how a 3-D work, it is quite possible that even a decade from now they would be made to feel or touch a 3-D creation which makes possible the first step or initial stage of teleportation, very much like the scenarios in the films such as G.I. Joe and James Bond. This undoubtedly is much sought-after knowing how majority have gotten engrossed to the idea of convenience of being in various places all at once, to save incredible a mount of time and energy required of wearisome travel.

Food Insecurity in the United States

Food Insecurity in the United States Food Insecurity In The United States Julie Hurley Introduction This paper will introduce the topic of food insecurity and hunger in the United States. According to the definition approved by the 1996 World Food Summit, â€Å"food security exists when†¦all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food which meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life†.(Simon, 2012, p. 4-5) Food insecurity therefore, is the inability to acquire adequate food intake for all household members as the result of insufficient resources. Food Insecurity is also the official term used to describe the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) measurement for all the possible variations that a family or house might experience while getting insufficient to sufficient food. The USDA measures the degree to which good food is available and how nutritious that food actually is. So while some members of a family might be getting food most of the time, some of the time some members are getting no food, others are getting food that is not very good and sometimes no one is eating at all. All these variations are taken into account and measured. Food insecure households are not necessarily food insecure all of the time and food insecurity may also reflect the trade-offs a household needs to make between paying the bills and purchasing nutritionally adequate food. (NYC Food Insecurity, 2014) Not surprisingly, low-income families are more likely to experience food insecurity than middle or higher income families. There are four dimensions to food security: availability, accessibility, utilization and stability. So food insecurity occurs when there is: a lack of food (no availability); a lack of resources (no access to food); an improper use (no proper utilization of food); or changes in availability, accessibility or utilization (no stability with regards to food). (Simon, 2012, p. 5-8) The United States produces more food than it could ever use for domestic consumption. Yet despite the ability to produce all this food, food insecurity is still a problem in the United States. American hunger is the result of economic poverty, when some people literally do not have enough funds to purchase food. But levels of income and poverty do not fully predict food insecurity. This suggests that other things (such as the ability to budget resources), are important in determining whether or not someone will be food insecure. (Gowda, Hadley, Aiello, 2012, p. 1586) In 2008, 17 million US households were considered to be food insecure.(Gowda et al., 2012, p. 1579) In 2010, household food insecurity in the US was at its highest level since measurements began in 1995.(Fram et al., 2011, p. 1114) Also in 2010, over one-fifth of U.S. children lived in food-insecure homes. The problem was considered serious enough at the time that President Barack Obama publicly pledged to end child hun ger by 2015.(Fram et al., 2011, p. 1114) Today, food insecurity is combated by both government programs and aid from the private sector. And while both types of aid have increased in this century, hunger relief by the government has outpaced that provided by the private sector.(Gowda et al., 2012, p. 1583) However, this was not always the case, and for many people throughout American history people were essentially on their own. History The prospect of food insecurity is a constant part of the human condition and in the United States has been a concern for as long as people have been living in North America. The European colonists who first settled in North America faced the prospect of severe hunger much of the time. Transplanting crops brought from Europe and trying to grow native crops was difficult. In the early days of the first colonies, many settlers watched their crops fail and ultimately died of starvation or the effects of starvation. But many other settlers were saved from starvation through the generosity of Native Americans. Over time the colonists adapted and they either copied, continued or created farming methods that were successful. In the process of doing this, they discovered that the land in North America was very fertile.(Eisinger, 1998, p. 32-34) They were so successful that despite the rugged environment and violence, hunger in North America was already becoming less severe than the level of hunger found throughout Western Europe. Improved food security had the effect that despite the dangers of life in the colonies, by 1776 American colonists enjoyed a higher life expectancy than their European cousins. The average life expectancy in North America at that time was 51 years; in Great Britain 37 years; in France only 26 years.(Eisinger, 1998, p. 44) A big factor in the food security experienced by North Americans though was that in addition to good fertile land, there was also a low population level. There was also no shortage of jobs. With low unemployment levels and plenty of work, any able-bodied person was prevented from suffering from the effects associated with unemployment, such as low income and the resulting inability to access food.(Fogel, 2004, p. 14-15) But conditions changed by the early 19th century when good land (or at least access to good land) became more scarce, usually available only to those who already had with wealth. It had also become harder to make a living from public land or by owning and operating a small farm. Poor economic conditions forced many small farmers off their land, making them homeless. With a growing population of homeless people, America’s first homeless shelters (which also provided food), were set up, called Poorhouses.(The Poorhouse, 2012) In some areas city officials would also â€Å"hand out† emergency cash to the starving to buy food, but this did not stop the overall rise in poverty or hunger. By 1850 living conditions had fallen so low that in America that life expectancy had dropped to 43 years. It is thought that by 1865, as many as 1 in 5 Americans could have been suffering from food insecurity.(Fogel, 2004, p. 36) After the Civil War, the industrial revolution began to change this situation to some degree. Factory jobs provided more access to income for workers and by the 1870’s there was less hunger and homelessness in the U.S. Of course most of these jobs were low wage and workers suffered in terrible conditions, but there were more jobs to choose from (and therefore less unemployment) so that at least people could earn enough money to eat. Though these â€Å"sweat shops† with their bad working conditions were the engine driving the â€Å"Gilded Age† the overall result was that they improved economy. This in turn created even more (and better) jobs being created outside of the factories as consumers had more money to spend. One side effect however, was that life for the poorest of the poor actually got worse. Many wealthy Americans opposed the idea of government intervening to help the hungry, thinking this would only create masses of lazy unemployed people. They also th ought that it would somehow sabotage the growth of the free market. Laissez Faire capitalism was thought to be the appropriate response to the starving poor. But at the same time, the private sector began to provide help to the poor by creating America’s first soup kitchens.(DePastino, 2005, p. 22) In the early 20th century there was a revolution in farming with the creation of the first methods of mechanized agriculture.(Janick, 2014) Ironically, although this lead to an increase in rural unemployment it also created a surplus of food which helped lower food prices in the United States. As a result, during and after the first World War (1914-1918), the United States sent about 20 million tons of food to a war ravaged Europe. And since World War I the United States has continued to be a world leader for relieving hunger.(Vernon, 2007, p. 242) In the 1920’s America’s economy was booming, but the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression that followed reversed much of the progress that the United States had made in reducing domestic hunger. But as a result of the Great Depression, the issue of American hunger became a major issue for the government. In time both the government and the private sector responded to the needs of the American people. More private soup kitchens and bread lines were opened and the â€Å"New Deal† program of government relief was launched. Some government programs like the Works Progress Administration (or WPA) tried to reduce unemployment by providing much needed jobs. Other programs tried to reduce poverty by raising wages. Another government program, the Federal Surplus Relief Corporation tried to provide poor people with food and bought surplus food from farmers. By the 1940’s the New Deal programs had improved the economy and seemed to have reduced most of the hunger in the United States. Until the late 1960s, many Americans considered hunger in their nation to be a solved problem.(Poppendieck, 1999, p. 11) So much so that some states even ended the practice of distributing federal food surpluses for free. Instead they provided an early form of food stamps but there was a price charged and since many could not pay for them, more people began to suffer from severe hunger again.(Poppendieck, 1999, p. 10) As American society rediscovered hunger, more private charity groups opened soup kitchens and the first modern food bank was created in 1967.(Poppendieck, 1999, p. 112) The so-called â€Å"Hunger Lobby† was also launched to petition politicians to improve welfare for the hungry. By 1967 senate hearings were held on hunger and in 1969 President Nixon called on Congress to end hunger in the U.S. once and for all.(Melnick, 1994, p. 311) In the 1970s, U.S. federal hunger relief grew substantially with food stamps distributed free of charge. Though these efforts again helped combat food insecurity, eventually the federal government again reduced welfare spending.(Dando, 2012, 177–178) The private sector again responded with grass roots relief agencies, essentially in the form of bigger and better food banks.(Dowler, 2012, p. 1) Food Insecurity Interventions America’s heritage of food insecurity provides an interesting look at the cycle within which food insecurity rises and falls. By now the relationship between economics and food insecurity seems pretty well documented: as the economy gets worse, poverty increases and with more people experiencing poverty, more experience food insecurity. Sadly, government policy, again operating in cycles, provides some initial, emergency, short term assistance but then eventually seems to blame the victims for their own deprivations and ends assistance. To be realistic about ending hunger in America, we must acknowledge that no matter how good the economy might ever get, there should always be interventions already in place to prevent food insecurity in the first place and to provide food to the hungry in preparation for the next big economic downturn. As a nurse viewing food insecurity as a public health issue, there are three types of interventions in the field of healthcare: primary, secondary and tertiary prevention. Primary preventions try to protect healthy people from developing a problem to begin with. Secondary preventions happen after an illness has already been diagnosed, with the goals being to halt or slow the progress of the illness. Tertiary preventions try to help an ill patient cope with the long term issues associated with an already exiting, full blown condition that cannot be reversed.(Primary, secondary and tertiary prevention, 2006) Primary Interventions: Creating Food Security/Measuring American food insecurity Community food security is created through several avenues like nutrition education, public health, sustainable agriculture and anti-hunger activism. And as a modern public health issue, a primary intervention used to try and prevent food insecurity from occurring, is to track it using reliable and precise methods of measurements. With accurate statistics, policy makers and organizations can address problems before they get worse. The only way to really do this is to get statistics about what demographic is accessing food programs, and the circumstances which caused them to have to do this. The USDA is the government agency which has been tasked with tracking and fighting food insecurity and in 1994, the USDA organized a conference to try and figure out the best way to track food insecurity. The conference identified the appropriate basis for a nationwide measure and agreed that the best way to take such a measure was with nationwide surveys.(History Background, 2014) This conferenc e resulted in the creation of the U.S. Food Security Measurement Project (USFSMP), and current food security statistics are based on the survey measure the USFSMP developed. In 1995, the U.S. Census Bureau first carried out a field test of the first food security survey called the Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement. The Food Security Supplement was repeated again from 1996 to 2001 and has been continued annually ever since. Taking the data from these surveys and using the highly sophisticated statistical techniques, USFSMP created â€Å"an accurate scale that measures the severity of deprivation in basic food needs as experienced by U.S. households.†(History Background, 2014) So a major component of primary intervention is already in place by tracking and measuring food insecurity. But the second half of this prevention-oriented approach for community food security is to take those statistics and addresses a diverse range of issues such as: â€Å"food availability and affordability; direct food marketing; diet-related health problems; participation in and access to Federal nutrition assistance programs; ecologically sustainable agricultural production; farmland preservation; economic viability of rural communities; economic opportunity and job security; community development and social cohesion.†(Food Security In The US, 2014) According to the USDA themselves, primary intervention should also support the development of long term strategies: â€Å"To improve access of low-income households to healthful nutritious food supplies. To increase the self-reliance of communities in providing for their own food needs. To promote comprehensive responses to local food, farm, and nutrition issues.† (Food Security In The US, 2014) Some of these issues can be addressed directly by the USDA but some can only be address in conjunction with or solely by other government agencies and policy makers. For example, the USDA has no say in influencing â€Å"economic opportunity and job security† but at least it can provide other agencies that do, with feedback as to how their policies may or may not be working. It seems unrealistic to think that the USDA alone can end food insecurity and clearly the magnitude of the problem – and the power it would take to prevent it – is beyond the scope of the USDA as it currently exists. But at least this primary intervention is in place and can be used in the future to continue trying to prevent hunger from happening and, until preventing it completely, to act as an alarm for strengthening secondary interventions. Secondary Interventions While primary interventions for food insecurity involve the policy and decision making that affects poverty in America, the interventions that most of us associate with food insecurity are those involving tangible hunger relief that provides food to the hungry. Modern secondary interventions include the following: Food pantries. The most common food aid establishments in the U.S., food pantries collect food from donors and give out actual parcels of food to those in need. Although used by anyone, they are designed to help families have enough food for a few meals which will be eaten at home. The food closet. The food closet has the same purpose as a food pantry, but is not big enough to be in a building of its own. The food closet will be a closet or room in something like a church and is often found in more remote communities. Soup kitchens. Soup kitchens are also called food kitchens and meal centers, all of which provide hot cooked meals for the hungry. These meals are prepared and eaten in the soup kitchen building (not at home). Soup kitchens are the second most common food aid establishment in the U.S. The food bank. The food bank is the third most common food aid establishment. in the U.S. Most food banks usually warehouse food and distribute it to other agencies like food pantries, instead of giving it directly to the hungry. They get their supply of foods from large farms, manufacturers, supermarkets and the federal government. Food rescue organizations also warehouse food and distribute it to other agencies but they operate on a smaller scale than food banks and get their food from different sources – restaurants, smaller shops and small farms. The network of these organizations that provide food assistance is sometimes referred to as the Emergency Food Assistance System (EFAS).(Riches, 1986, p. 15-20)

The Importance of Clarity in Writing Essay -- Writing Style Styles Ess

The Importance of Clarity in Writing To write a good paper is there a magical recipe to follow? If there is you will not find it in these two books; Williams' Style: Toward Clarity and Grace and Strunk and White's The Elements of Style. What you will find is the elements that should be present to have a successful paper. Of all the styles mention though, one seems to stick out more then the others. This is the element of Clarity. What is clarity, you may be asking? It is simply the process of making your paper clear to the intended audience of your text. This may sound too easy and most of us probably think our papers are always clear, after all we know what we are saying in them. The question is, does everyone else? Both Williams and Strunk and White mention clarity and the importance it plays in the text we read. Williams point out that when we come across a sentence that is not clear our first reaction is "yuck." He goes on to say, "we do not describe sentences on the page; we describe how we feel about them." (17) When I came to this passage, I had never thought of it that way. I had always blamed the passage in some way if I did not understand it. I wouldn't look to see why it wasn't clear, but would think what an awful sentence, not realizing that it is not the sentence that is awful, but the clarity of it. It is clarity that makes our sentences sound correct, which in turn will make our paragraphs sound correct and then our entire paper. If we do not have clarity then it will not matter what we write about, because there will be no understanding in it. This is why we need to follow two simple principles according to Williams. These principles are (1) subjects of your sentence should name the characters and (2) ... ...en. This allows the reader to not feel lost in your paper and will make it more cleared to those who know little on the subject. Clarity is just one of many elements Williams and Strunk and White covered. I believe it is the most important one though, because without clarity, it doesn't matter what your paper is over. You could find a cure to a deadly disease, but if it is not clear it will never be discovered. It will instead represent many lines of words that do not flow together. You may follow all of the other rules set forth by Strunk and White, but it needs to be readable. Clarity is what makes text readable, even enjoyable and allows a text to succeed. Works Cited Williams, Joseph. Style: Toward Clarity and Grace. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1990. Strunk, William, and E.B. White. The Elements of Style. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2000.

Business Law in Accounting

Accounting is the system of recording, reporting and verifying financial information for individuals and businesses, including income, expenses, value of assets, and so on. However, Business Law I, takes what is normally known of accounting and moves into another arena, one which includes civil and criminal liabilities, contract law, ethics and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. By establishing the basics in Business Law, accountants are able to understand the risks of their particular profession. Accountants are faced with civil and criminal liabilities which are based on the accountant’s ability to do his or her job effectively and legally. Accountants face civil liabilities when they do not complete the work satisfactorially to what was agreed to. Even â€Å"Codes of Ethics† urge accountants to not agree to do work that they know they do not have the knowledge or time to complete. Competency is a key element to being a successful accountant, and not meeting competency goals can cause problems for young accountants entering the field. By understanding the basics of contract law, it is easier for accountants to find the necessary information to allow them to do their jobs competently. If accountants know that it takes mutual consideration, or a â€Å"meeting of the minds,† to begin contract negotiations, then they can figure if they are reviewing a contract, some type of mutual consideration must have occurred, as well as a proposal and acceptance portion of the conversation. Also, if an accountant knows that the contract is for the sale of goods, then the accountant would know that the UCC Article 2 has to be used, instead of simple contract law. Knowing this would help the accountant understand how the asset or products purchased needed to be accounted for, because without detailed information in the contract, UCC Article I gap filling procedures take place. These procedures are an attempt to take vagueness and give it some detail, but the gap filling detail is not much better than the original, thus the accountant can still be stuck, lost, not knowing how to account for a particular product, and not knowing at which time responsibility and risk for the product exchanges hands. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was signed into law in 2002 by George W. Bush. The original thought behind SOX was to regulate the accounting profession, due to the greed that had resulted in huge economic crashes amongst top corporations such as Enron and WorldCom. SOX assisted in setting up regulatory organizations for each facet of the accounting process. These organizations are designed to ensure that accounting practices and auditing practices are ethical, legal and professional for public U. S. companies. Unfortunately, SOX does not regulate private companies, but private companies cannot create financial hardships for outside investors, so private companies are not in need of these type of regulations. Business Law I helped create an understanding amongst the students regarding what is actually expected of them once work as an accountant begins. A naive accountant would believe that all he or she needed to do was ensure that the data being entered in is correct and if not, fix it through a series of journal entries. However, after taking this class, it is apparent that this is an incorrect assumption. Understanding the civil and criminal liabilities that can be charged due to negligence or fraud, whether intentional or not, is incredibly important to accountants and CPA’s. Without understanding these potential problems, an accountant would not be able to understand the level of the problem, or be able to assess the gravity of the situation, whatever that situation may be. Even though accounting is a financial profession that takes the value of income, expenses, assets, and other items, and reports, analyzes, records and verifies these amounts, Business Law allows for the review of the profession in general. Accountants have to understand what is legally expected of them when working with client’s records and reports, and how these legal expectations can be brought upon them, and what their rights are. Without understanding the responsibility and risk that takes place for a company, an accountant would not understand why it is so important to establish ownership and when that particular ownership exchanges hands. Accountants also must understand what risks and responsibilities their particular profession run as well, and ensure that they are competently performing their jobs so that there is no question as to if an accountant was negligent, or was derilect in the performance of his or her duty.

Measure for Measure: The fault of Isabella is that she is excessively pious and too proud

Isabella's character blossoms in debate, on a number of occasions throughout the play she can be perceived as being excessively pious and too proud. This perception of Isabella is evidenced in the play when she puts her virginity and spiritual life ahead of her brother's life which hangs in the balance, this view is emphasised when she refuses Angelo's proposal to save Claudio's life. However it can also be argued that Isabella's actions and decisions can also support the view that Isabella is a symbol for chastity and virtue. Thus Isabella's character is a perfect example of body versus soul as her actions and decisions can be debated and argued thoroughly. Isabella can also be seen as a champion of mercy by the way she begs for Angelo's life in the final scene of the play. The view that Isabella is excessively pious is supported the instance we meet her character as she ‘rather wishes a more strict restraint on the sisterhood'. This gives the audience the idea that Isabella believes the sisterhood is too lenient and she believes there should be more rules and restrictions. The use of ‘wishes' is effective as it shows that Isabella hoped to have more rules and restraint posed on her as a nun; therefore supporting the view that Isabella is excessively pious. Isabella can also be seen as excessively pious when she puts her chastity ahead of her brother's life ‘More than our brother is our chastity'. Isabella can be seen as too proud as a result of this decision as many of the audience will disagree with the view. The use of ‘our brother' is effective as Isabella is associating the view with all of the audience. However it can also be argued that Isabella's decision to put her chastity ahead of her brother's life shows that she is a symbol for virtue and chastity as she values her spiritual life more than her brother's physical life. Isabella shows how serious her spiritual life is to her when she becomes distraught as a result of Claudio's proposal to agree with Angelo's demands. ‘O you beast! O you faithless coward! O you dishonest wretch! ‘ This attack on Claudio will be seen as severe by the audience as Claudio fears death and the unknown, but ultimately he wants to live ‘O please sister let me live'. However Isabella appears to be ignorant of his desires and emotions ‘O, fie, fie, fie! ‘, therefore the audience will feel sympathetic for Claudio but will also view Isabella as single minded and inflexible as she only seems to consider the effect the illegitimate sex will have on her character. Thus Isabella can easily be viewed as being too proud. Isabella's devotion to her virginity is also measured by Angelo as he offers Isabella the chance to save her brother's life if she ‘lays down the treasures of your body to this supposed or else let him suffer'. The use of ‘treasures' is effective as Angelo knows Isabella's virginity is everything to her, and hence it is her excessive piety and the fact she is proud that attracts Angelo to her. Therefore this exposes Isabella's flaw and hence fault as her virtue and piety attract Angelo. However Isabella bluntly refuses Angelo's proposal ‘I'd wear as rubies, and strip myself to death as to a bed that longing have been sick for, ere I'd yield my body to shame'. The language is Isabella's speech contrasts her philosophy the use of ‘strip myself to death as to a bed' is effective as she is unknowingly attracting Angelo to her sexually but is ultimately refusing him. Isabella believes her body will be put to ‘shame' as a result of illegitimate sex with Angelo, and therefore gives no inclination of accepting the proposal for the sake of Claudio's life. Indeed she again only continues to think about the affect the act will have on her character, therefore again supporting the view that she is too proud of her status and excessively pious. However her stern refusal of Angelo's proposal ‘most pernicious purpose' supports the view that she is a symbol for virtue and chastity as she decides to refuse the proposal without hesitation. The audience will also empathise with Isabella's decision and if anything will be sceptical of her status if she was to accept the proposal. Isabella can be seen as merciful when she begs with Mariana for Angelo's life ‘Thoughts are no subjects, intents but merely thoughts'. The audience will disagree with Isabella's mercy towards Angelo as he tried to take her virginity and hence her life away from her ‘virgin violator', however she is pleading for his life to be saved. Therefore Isabella's actions agree with the view that she is a champion of mercy as she is willing to forgive Angelo's intentions and thoughts. Isabella's language again contradicts her philosophy and her status of being excessively pious. Christianity as a religion is based upon ideas of ideas and thoughts, however according to Isabella ‘thoughts are no subjects'. Therefore the audience will question Isabella's status as a nun and if she devoted to the church as we have become accustomed to throughout the majority of the play. There are many arguments to support both of these views. However I believe the arguments for the view that Isabella is a symbol for virtue and chastity outweigh the arguments supporting Isabella as being too proud and excessively pious. There is ambiguity in many of Isabella's actions and decisions which bring Isabella's character into debate. I believe Shakespeare presents Isabella as a symbol for virtue and chastity as she ultimately puts her spiritual life and virginity ahead of her brother's life which hung in the balance.