Gnome-terminal doesn't show prompt

["Michael D. Cencula" <junk1 cencula penguinpowered com>]

I've recently installed Gnome on my RH 5.2 system running kernel 2.0.36.
When I run Gnome as root, and start a terminal, all is fine.  When I run
Gnome as myself and start a terminal, the terminal doesn't show a prompt.
Instead, it shows a block cursor in the upper left corner and does not
accept keyboard input.  How can I get my terminal windows to work correctly?

Thanks,

Michael D. Cencula
junk1@cencula.penguinpowered.com