(NOTE: Please don't clutter the Strauss $GISDBASE (/home/strauss/usrb/grass.data) with unnecessary location directories!)
Creating a new location begins at the GRASS entry screen. Type in the name of the location to be created, and confirm. First, you must specify the coordinate system: 0=arbitrary X-Y, generally used for unrectified imagery; 1=UTM (and you must specify the zone); 2=State Plane; 3=Lat-Long; 99=Other. Be aware that GRASS does not support UTM regions crossing UTM zones: in such cases you may have to create a hybrid UTM zone (e.g., UTM zone "17.5") and deal with the attendant risks of inconsistency with standard zones, or else use Lat-Long, which supports global maps.
Second, you specify the default region (bounding North, South, East and West values) and default cell resolution; if your resolution is not exactly consistent with the specified region, GRASS will adjust the resolution to fit.
Third, you will have to specify a spheroid. Check the metadata or margins of your paper maps for the necessary information. If your data are based on NAD27 (1927 North American Datum), choose "clark66" (Clark 1866); if NAD83, choose "grs80" (Geodetic Reference System 1980); for very large scale regions using Lat-Long, use one "wgs66," "wgs72" or "wgs84," which are valid globally. Spheroids are listed in the $GISBASE/etc/ellipse.table file.
GRASS will let you create a new location without correct spheroid and projection parameters. You can use g.setproj to create or edit the PROJ_INFO and PROJ_UNITS files in the PERMANENT mapset for the new location. (Presumably you will be the owner of PERMANENT.)