Earl,

I have no problem at all with fresh perspectives and out-of-the-box thinking.

The situation we have here is that the perspectives are neither fresh nor out-of-the-box.[]

I agree that on rare occasions an outsider or a neophyte in any area of human endeavor will stumble upon a keen insight that is immediately (or perhaps eventually) adopted, but far more frequently the real innovations come from those who have worked within a discipline for a long time and have a deep understanding of what has come - and in most cases, gone - before.

If there is a newbie who wants to propose something, he could enlist a sponsor who does meet the requirements. This would provide a "filtering" effect and reduce the number of frivilous and repetitious suggestions that the contest board must deal with.