When I attended the College of Charleston on a scholarship I did not know what to expect. I am a California girl and the allure of a full ride at CC outweighed the negative image of South Carolina. I can now tell you that Charleston is an outpost of civilization in a state that is cultural and economic wasteland. After 2 1/2 years at CC ( I attended summer sessions to finish early) I was not shocked at what the citizens of the state though was important. I had no intention of remaining in SC so I shook my head and went about the business of college. Yesterday I received an email from the CC alumni volunteer coordinator about the recent budget that eliminated funding for South Carolina's AIDS Drug Assistance Program. I was shocked, really shocked, and now inspired to blog about it. If you go to the link here http://www.thestate.com/201 0/03/18/1205355/hundreds-pr otest-hiv-funding-cuts.html you will see a video about protests about the funding cuts. "Per capita, the Palmetto State ranks eighth among states in the rate of new AIDS cases, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Columbia ranks ninth in its per-capita rate of AIDS cases among U.S. cities."SC is dominated by conservative politics but looking at the video I can't help but think that race is involved. I know times are tough but ignoring a debilitating and deadly disease is really , really stupid. My two cents.