Martina Dreyer, a chemical engineering graduate student from Germany, has been waiting for the fourth annual OU Cousins Barbecue and Western Party all year.

For the third year, the event is being held to ensure that international students don't leave Oklahoma without seeing a working ranch.

"The atmosphere is really nice. It is really family-like," she said. "We could walk around anywhere, pet the horses and play with the dog."

The festivities, which begin at 5:30 p.m. today at the Whinery Ranch, will include a barbecue dinner, a hayride, live band, square dancing and line dancing. OU President David Boren is scheduled to drive the tractor for the hayride, and the OU Square Dancing Club will lead the dancing.

"International students don't have means of transportation. They stay on campus," said Becky Barker, adviser for OU Cousins. "They just want to see as much as they can while they are here."

The OU Cousins program was created to pair international students with American students for cultural interaction.

Dreyer's cousin, anthropology senior Mia Parham, said the program has given her an "understanding of a new culture (and) a new friend."

Started in 1995, with 275 students participating, the program expanded to more than 500 students in 1996, more than 1,000 students in 1997, and more than 1,100 students today with 50 countries represented.

The idea of this program has spread to other campuses, including Baylor University and Indiana University. Oklahoma State University is currently considering its own version of the OU Cousins program.
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