KYOTO, Japan -- Figure skating doesn't have to scrap its century-old scoring system to put an end to judging shenanigans and embarrassing scandals.

The United States and Australia presented proposals Wednesday that would eliminate judging improprieties simply by modifying the current scoring system. Either could be used next season.

``We can't always control the impetus for change. But we can control how we manage that change,'' Phyllis Howard, president of the U.S. Figure Skating Association, said Wednesday.

``It is vital to the interests of the sport that this organization show it can move quickly to correct deficiencies, real or perceived, that are harmful to its future.''

No vote was taken Wednesday, with delegates at the International Skating Union congress taking the afternoon to digest what they heard. There will be more discussion Thursday morning, with a vote expected afterward.

There didn't appear to be a clear favorite between the two proposals, and a compromise is possible, with elements of both being used.

``I don't think that nothing will happen,'' ISU president Ottavio Cinquanta said Tuesday. ``The next season, rules will be different than the ones we have today in the book.''

The U.S. proposal would keep the 6.0 scale, but use the median mark -- the statistical consensus of the judges -- to determine the final score. The scores of all nine judges would be considered.

The United States analyzed the results of five competitions using its system and found there would have been few changes. The most significant was at the European championships, where the third- and fourth-place finishers would have switched.

But the system makes it almost impossible for a judge or two to skew the final results, either because of cheating or simple error, Howard said.

``Our proposal would minimize the effects of block judging, bias and error,'' said John LeFevre, executive director of the USFSA. ``The proposal has been tested and proven.''

The Australian plan would randomly select nine scores from a 14-judge panel. The two highest and two lowest presentation and technical marks -- not necessarily given by the same judges -- would then be tossed out.

The five remaining presentation and technical marks would then be added together to get a final point total.

``The system practically inhibits any kind of possibility of deals or influences among the judges,'' said Donald McKnight, president of Ice Skating Australia.

The Australian proposal also calls for all of the marks to still be displayed on the arena scoreboard. No one would know which judges gave which marks, but fans could at least still see them.

``If we do not display the marks, our judging system will become even more secretive and more incompetent, which is just the opposite of what the media and the public are looking for,'' McKnight said.

After Salt Lake City, figure skating has little choice but to make visible changes now. Judging improprieties might be as much a part of skating as sequins and makeup, but the International Olympic Committee has had it.

Everything else became an afterthought when French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne admitted she had been pressured to ``vote a certain way'' when she put Russia's Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze first in pairs. The IOC even took the unprecedented move of awarding duplicate gold medals to Canada's Jamie Sale and David Pelletier.

Figure skating might bring in millions of dollars, but that's not enough to spoil the IOC's big show.

``What happened in the pairs event in Salt Lake City has destroyed and canceled in one minute all the effort and the work ... during the past 40 years to give credibility to judging and the sport,'' said Katsuichiro Hisanaga, the ISU's figure skating vice president.

``It is my opinion that the only way the ISU can regain a certain credibility is to show the entire world our firm will to really clean house and to establish a clear new judging system.''

The congress already has voted to move forward with a radical reform project that would replace the traditional 6.0 mark with a points system, and delegates saw a presentation of what the system might look like.

More research and refining is needed before it can even be tested, and the congress would have to vote on it again in 2004 before it could be implemented permanently.

The concept has been a confusing one for many delegates, who aren't quite sure what an X-Games-like points system would do to an artistic sport like figure skating. Every element would have a set points value, and judges would use touch-pad computers to evaluate the quality of the moves.

It also would use a complicated formula to determine technical and presentation scores.

Critics fear the system could turn skating into a jumping contest and indeed, the presentation seemed to support that. All quadruple jumps started with a higher value than the triple axel, and a quad toe loop's base level is more than three times greater than that of any spin.

But not everyone is convinced skating needs this drastic of a change. That's where the Australian and U.S. proposals come in.

``It is a great sport with a proud history,'' Howard said. ``Certainly, there are many who the current system is basically sound and don't see any need for change.''