Eat your words - in rice

A new Web site is giving students an educational and charitable way to procrastinate.

By playing vocabulary games on a new, non-profit Web site called Freerice.com, students can do community service from their computer.

For every correct word in the game, twenty grains of rice are donated to help end world hunger through the site's partnership with the United Nations World Food Program.

The donated rice is paid for by the advertisers who place ads on the site. Freerice.com then gives this donation to the WFP in cash.

From there, the WFP is often able to purchase rice in the countries where its beneficiaries live, minimizing the time it takes to transport food to the hungry.

College senior and Penn for UNICEF co-president Loren Voss said she first came across the site on a friend's Facebook wall when it was launched in early October.

Since then, Voss has sent the site to the over 200 general body members of her group, urging them to log on and play.

She added that the site can even be a big help with studying for exams.

"It definitely goes up to college-level words; there are vocab words that I don't even know," Voss said.

Since its inception in October 2007, Freerice.com has raised $100,000 for the WFP, which has been designated to feed needy people in Bangladesh.

"Although the WFP doesn't normally associate itself with web-based fundraising offers, the agency has a previous history with the site's creator John Breen, whose last project generated $2.9 million for WFP beneficiaries in just over a year," said WFP spokesperson Jennifer Mizgata.

College junior Elizabeth Wayne said the site is a perfect example of how students can use their education to help both themselves and other people.

"I think it's a really great idea because . you're not wasting time," Voss said. "You feel like you're actually doing something."

The site's custom database contains thousands of words at varying levels of difficulty. When you first begin to play, it automatically adjusts to your level, based on the first set of introductory words.

When you get a word wrong, you go to an easier level. When you get three words in a row right, you go to a harder level.

Site officials say this one-to-three ratio is best for keeping you at the "outer fringe of your vocabulary," but it's "rare to get past level 48" in the 50-level game.

"I would rather have more rice donated per word, but I think it's a useful site for people studying for exams like the SATs and GREs," said Melinda Angeles, College junior.

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