Posted: Sat Oct 13 2001
Local Devil's Advocacy Program Started

It's been a dream long-held by Sally Montero: To offer opposing views to others and get paid for it. Now that dream is becoming a reality. Montero has received a university grant and will open for business shortly after first of the year, January first.

Even the decision on when to begin operating was a tough decision, Sally says. "You have to look at all sides of an issue. That's the whole point of the Devil's Advocacy Program (DAP). I mean, everyone assumes 'the first of the year' is on the Gregorian calendar, but we had to weigh the pros and cons of the Chinese and Jewish new year also." Ultimately, that decision was made easier when the university insisted that the program be set up in time for the beginning of next semester.

The DAP will have an office on campus, open daily from 9:00 to 5:00, until someone can present a winning argument for different hours. The program will assist anyone in the community faced with a tough decision by offering information and advice that's contrary to what the person wants to hear. Montero hopes the program eventually grows and can expand to encompass all the colleges and universities in the MO-KAN area. "We hope to eventually become comparable to those 'medical clinics' that give away condoms, or Campus Crusade.

The idea for DAP came after Sally gave her sister conflicting advice on whether or not to join the ROTC: as a way to serve her country, be separated from her loved ones, use a rifle, gain useful job experience in her chosen field, pay for her college education, and/or be killed or maimed in the line of duty. But she's quick to give credit for her true inspiration to her older brother, whom she says can so quickly become a devil's advocate that it sometimes confuses other family members.

There has been some confusion abou the name of the program. When asked about satanic influences and links to Osama bin Laden, Montero quickly defends her program, "Honestly, we just don't lean that way. And frankly, the whole bin Laden is giving us trouble. We're having to spend all our time defending ourselves instead of being able to be out there helping people."


--Suzanne Fontannadanna