Standing in front of the campus gates, a small group of activists handed out fliers and hung banners to protest the use of a growth hormone in cows.

Members of the Vegetarian Society of Central Pennsylvania and Eco-Action endured the cold Friday afternoon to inform people of the dangers a new bovine growth hormone, BGH, could cause. BGH, which is used to increase milk production in cows by 10 to 15 percent, also increases the occurrence of mastitis, an infection in the cow's udder, Eco-Action member Mike Ewall said.

The problem for consumers is that mastitis is treated with antibiotics, which are then passed through the milk, Ewall (junior-sociology) said. The consumer then drinks milk with an increased antibiotic content.

As consumers' intake of antibiotics increases, they become more susceptible to disease, Ewall said.

He added that the University promotes BGH by using it in its dairy science program, which sets an example for other colleges to follow.

But Craig Baumrucker, professor of animal nutrition and physiology, said all BGH research shows there is no long-term damage to the cows or to the people drinking the milk.

"There is an increase in the amount of udder infection, but it is no more than cows that are specially bred for increased production," he said.

Andrew Laird, writer for the Vegetarian Society, disagrees. He said cows, consumers and small farms are all being hurt because big businesses will use BGH to increase their milk production, and small farms that do not use the hormone will not remain competitive.

Ten to 30,000 small dairy farms will go out of business," he said.

Ewall said the protesters' main goal was to inform people of BGH's harmful effects and to protest the University's usage and promotion of the hormone.

"There's nothing we can force Penn State to do. They are not going to stop promoting this product," he said.

While some played drums, others in the group of about 30 protesters distributed leaflets to people passing by and waiting for buses at the intersection of College Avenue and Allen Street.

But some students remained apathetic toward the protesters' goals.

"It's like cigarettes," said Sheenell Brown (freshman-engineering). "Everyone knows it's bad, but they do it anyway."