The editors of The Crimson are shocked, shocked to hear that underage drinking has occurred within the confines of the Crimson Sports Grille. A sting operation conducted this December revealed--to the great dismay of the entire Cambridge community--six individuals under the age of 21 who, despite their tender youth, had been served alcohol at the Grille. And on Feb. 27, investigators for the Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission recommended what will seem to many Cantabridgians the ultimate punishment: a temporary suspension of the Grille's liquor license.

We cannot describe our disappointment at this betrayal of our confidence. Underage drinking is a scourge upon the land, and to hear that as honored an institution as the Grille--once described as the best bar in Boston by Matt Damon, Class of 1992--would allow such a practice has left us thunderstruck. For years first-years have wondered what lay behind the mysterious doors of the Grille, gauntlets through which no underage student would dare to pass. How on earth did those six students evade the many watchful guards who manned the gate?

Now the deed is done, and the reputation of the Grille forever soiled. Some, no doubt, will cease to drink there, unwilling to be patron to a place so tainted by scandal. But we call upon all good Harvard students to continue to support the Grille in this, its trying hour of need. The owner and managers of the Grille are decent and humble folk, and we are certain that this black mark--like those of five earlier sting operations and $12,000 previously paid in alcohol fines--will forevermore weigh heavy on their brows.

In short, the Grille has suffered enough. It should be allowed to pay its fine and its debt to society. No good can come from briefly closing an institution which, these few flukes aside, has always served alcohol only to those mature enough to enjoy it properly. We earnestly beg the commission to show mercy to this shamed institution, to allow it the chance to rebuild its good name and to refrain from imposing a temporary suspension of its liquor license.

Or, at the very least, to delay the Grille's suspension until after the second week of June.