It's not good manners to gobble your food, but some kids have no choice when they're at school because their lunch periods are so short.

Legislators who aren't so much worried about etiquette as they are about poor health want the State Board of Education to find out how long schools give students to eat lunch, Lynn Bonner reports.

State guidelines call for half-hour lunch periods, said Rep. Doug Yongue, one of the bill sponsors, but schools routinely set aside less time, with 17-minute lunch breaks reported in some high schools. He said that speed eating contributes to obesity and diabetes.

The House Education Committee passed the bill oday at Yongue's request.

"We need to see if we can do better than 17 minutes," said Rep. Larry Womble.

Some recent House bills of note:

H.B. 593: Change School Starting Date, Reps. Paul Luebke, Martha Alexander, Bob England and Ray Rapp

H.B. 611: Check-Off Donation: Breast Cancer Screening, Reps. Nelson Dollar, Carolyn Justice, Lucy Allen and England

H.B. 614: Absentee Voting Improvements, Reps. Grier Martin, Rick Glazier, Marian McLawhorn and Rapp

H.B. 626: Restraining of Dogs, Reps. Douglas Yongue, Susan Fisher, Danny McComas and Justin Burr

H.B. 630: Capitalize National Guard in Statutes, Reps. Martin, Cullie Tarleton and Ric Killian

H.B. 644: Misdemeanor/Not Produce Public Records, Reps. George Cleveland and Burr

The House made its committee assignments Wednesday.

The first two weeks of the session have been mostly uneventful as members attended budget and revenue briefings. Behind the scenes, members have been jockeying for committee assignments and chairmanships.

Speaker Joe Hackney appointed chairmen and chairwomen Wednesday, and the speaker handed out new wooden gavels to each committee head.

In the House, Rep. Mickey Michaux, a Durham Democrat will remain a senior budget writer. Other chairs of the Appropriations Committee include: Reps. Alma Adams, Greensboro; Martha Alexander, Charlotte; Jim Crawford, Oxford; Phillip Haire, Sylva; Maggie Jeffus, Greensboro; Joe Tolson, Pinetops; Douglas Yongue, Laurinburg. All are Democrats.

State Sen. Walter Dalton was elected the chairman of the Southern Regional Education Board's Legislative Advisory Council.

The Rutherfordton Democrat, who is running for lieutenant governor, was chosen at the at SREB's Legislative Work Conference in Oklahoma City, Jane Stancill reports.

This is the 56th year that the annual conference has brought together legislators from 16 states to develop ways to improve education throughout the South.

The 62-member SREB Legislative Advisory Council is the largest standing advisory group to the Board. The council meets regularly to give guidance to the SREB and address education topics.

Dalton has served on the Board and the Legislative Advisory Council since 2000. Other SREB Board members from North Carolina include Gov. Mike Easley; Howard Lee, chairman, State Board of Education; Cathy Tomon, principal, Broad Creek Middle School, Newport; and Rep. Douglas Y. Yongue of Laurinburg.

SREB is an Atlanta-based nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that advises state education leaders on ways to improve education.