If you're looking to eliminate pricing disputes like those seen in the current nano contest then the only way I see that being possible is to eliminate the budget completely. Believe it or not the price list actually prevents many disputes, if contenders were allowed to use any price things would probably be way worse.
Constraints shouldn't be placed on variables like prices, apply constraints on constants like total water volume and things will go much smoother.
Also I think entry fees and prizes are a good thing, it will keep contenders interested and more likely to see the contest through to the end. Otherwise you'll have many contenders and very few finalists.
|