Root path question

[Steve Doerr <sdoerr@swbell.net>]

I'm confused about root's bash profile.  In vt1, the directories /sbin & 
/usr/local/sbin are excluded from the path.  If I su to root within 
Gnome or KDE in a terminal they are there.

I'm not sure why there isn't a common bash profile for root in vt1 vs. 
vt7.  Where would the two be located?  Within vt1, will 
PATH=/dir1:/dir2:/diretc/:$PATH add it permanently?

Thanks for any input,
Steve