Fifteen Harvard Law School students have said they were treated unfairly when trying to be seated last week at Temple Bar--an event they say may have been a result of racial discrimination.

Members of the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association (APALSA) say they had to wait an inordinate amount of time to get a table last Tuesday night at the popular Mass. Ave. bar and restaurant. The restaurant was only partially full, they claim.

The group's newly elected co-chair Shan M. Chang said she forwarded an e-mail message detailing the incident to APALSA's member list and other people she thought would be interested.

"We just want to let people know," Chang said. "They can make up their own mind whether it's bad service of discrimination."

The message has been circulated to several campus groups, including Diversity & Distinction.

Temple Bar has received calls from people who received the e-mail message.

Gerry Sheerin, co-owner of the bar and the manager on duty the evening the incident occurred, says the students had to wait for a table because it was not immediately clear to the hostess that the group intended to order appetizers and dinners--not just drinks.

"[This is] an unfortunate incident that should not have happened. It could have been any group of 15, it was not because they were Asians," Sheerin said.