True and nicely put. But, I would say the "surprise" here is not that it's harder for Asian Americans to get in relative to African Americans. You'd think that if you are guaranteeing or biasing towards a certain number of select groups, then the unselected groups would be equally biased against. But that's not what this study is finding. It's pointing towards the possibility that Asians are not just disadvantaged relative to their fellow minorities; they are disadvantaged relative to whites as well.
That's an interesting perspective that honestly had not occurred to me. I've have an unhealthy interest with admissions policies for, crikey, more than a decade now. The fact that affirmative action would require a disproportionate discrimination against Asians was obvious from the public data, and much remarked upon, more than a decade ago. It was also frequently remarked that this concern was just a stalking horse for white Republicans, for what its worth.
Speaking of public data: universities have gotten very good at shutting it up like a drum because when it surfaces (in, for example, the Grantz vs. Bollinger litigation) it typically reveals that they are bald-faced liars on this subject.
Relatedly, Princeton's written Affirmative Action Plan is available for inspection only if you go to campus and read it in their presence, but you won't be allowed to make copies.
