9.3 Gnome File Manager Problem

Hello, I'm using 9.3 with the Gnome desktop. When I copy a directory from one location to another using the File Manager (right click, copy file, then paste), the creation date of the target directory (and all it's sub-directories) is dropped. If I do a 'ls -l' on the target directory (or it's sub-directories), the creation date shows as 1969-12-31. The creation date of all regular files (non-directories) is preserved. Has anyone had this problem or found a solution to it? Is this a problem inherent in Gnome 2.10, or in the SuSE implementation of the Gnome desktop? Thanks for your help. Dom -- Linux is like a teepee: no Windows, no Gates, Apache inside.