Minneapolis - It's far too easy for Newsweek to ask in blaring tones on this week's cover, "Is College Worth the Investment?" Yes, soaring college costs have been alarming. Certainly, colleges and universities must be more accountable and consumer oriented. However, higher education is not a mercenary exercise. We run grave risks as a nation when higher education is seen merely or mostly as a narrow, technical transaction leading to a job. The world is too complex and our politicians too slippery for "we the people" not to be critical thinkers about life beyond ourselves. I think that's called civilization.