nine students--all asians--expelled in duke cheating scandal

I got like fifty people emailing me this story last night... Apparently all of the students expelled in a recent cheating scandal at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business were from Asian countries, while other students were punished less severely, according to their attorney: Duke cheating case hit Asian students. Now, I don't have much sympathy for cheaters, but something does sound fishy here.

Last month, 34 business school graduate students were convicted of cheating on an exam and other assignments. Nine were expelled, and 15 were suspended for a year and given a failing grade in the class, while the others received failing grades. The nine expelled students were all from Asian countries. Many of them confessed instead of fighting the charges because of different cultural norms in their countries, where often "a confession or an admission of guilt can be a way to apologize." They now face losing their student visas and leaving the country if their appeals fail. More here: Cheating case hit Asians hardest