Gnome trouble: No panel

[Eric Youngson <youngso2@msu.edu>]

    Ok, now everything boots up fine and Gnome starts automatically, but...
When Gnome starts up, I find myself in a strange desktop with no panel.  All
of the documentation that I have indicates that the panel should start with
the Gnome environment.  I have managed to get the panel to startup from the
console with the command: Panel &.  But there are errors on the console and
when I close the console, the panel disappears.  Well, any info would be
helpful, thanks.
-- 
    Eric