Gift allowance

Jefferson Community College officials took the wrong direction with their new policy on gifts to college officials.

In recent years, the pressure in New York has been on limiting gifts to state and elected officials, which was one of the early initiatives taken by former Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer.

JCC is doing the opposite.

The college's Board of Trustees last week hiked the 40-year-old limit on the value of a gift a college official is allowed to accept. The board raised the limit from $25 to $100, apparently to make it easier to take a college official to dinner.

The increase, though, is inconsistent with practices and policies established by other State University of New York institutions and state agencies eliminating all gifts of any amount to avoid potential conflicts of interest.