[Fink-beginners] installation error - superuser priviledges

[Constance M. <the...@sb...>]

Hello,
I just re-installed my computer and updated the operating system from Mac OSX 10.5.8 to 10.6.8.  I am trying to download fink so that I can then download the gmt package.  I am following the instructions at 
http://www.finkproject.org/download/srcdist.php
I downloaded fink-0.31.0.tar and unpacked it.  When I run the ./bootstrap command in the fink-0.31.0 directory the terminal window shows the following error - 
"Fink must be installed and run with superuser (root) privileges. Fink canautomatically try to become root when it's run from a user account. Sinceyou're currently running this script as a normal user, the method you choosewill also be used immediately for this script. Available methods:
(1)	Use sudo(2)	Use su(3)	None, fink must be run as root
Choose a method: [1]  "

I thought perhaps this was because I was trying to install this in my user directory instead of in the root directory so I moved the .tar file to the / directory and unpacked it there and tried the same ./bootstrap in the new fink-0.31.0 directory, but I get the same error.  
Any ideas how to proceed?
Thanks for any help you can give!