State 1 - scroll bar at the top with differing size columns

So whats the solution?

the answer is to use javascript. The best solution we've found is on killersites.com called matching_columns.js (simply add the script and a class of columns to the divs of equal height) and voila equal height columns.

State 2 - scroll bar at the bottom with equal size columns

The downside is that it doesn't work with when the user has javascript turned off.