Host to throngs of Harvard law students and professors looking to relax for a drink at day's end, the Temple Bar serves those who serve justice.

But according to about a dozen members of the Asian Pacific American Law Student Association (APALSA), the bar served them Tuesday before last with rudeness and disrespect.

Angered by a 25-minute wait to be seated, Susan Perng, a former co-chair of the group, authored a five-paragraph e-mail message recounting what had happened. She suggested a boycott.

Within two days, Perng's e-mail turned into an official communiqu of APALSA. Campus publications were notified. Law school student groups--including the student government--were ready to call for a boycott of their own.

But now, several members of APALSA have questioned the real cause of the charges--whether they stem from bad service or from mere politics.

"They've already been tried, committed and executed," Roger Severino, an APALSA member and first-year law student, said of Temple Bar. "It's a high-tech lynching."

Minute by Minute

When the 12 APALSA members arrived at Temple last Tuesday night, dressed as "rich Asian law students" according to one of the members, the bar wasn't very crowded--maybe a third of the tables were empty.