old_contents: import time
  import dateutil.parser
  import logging
  
  from xmodule.modulestore import Location
  from xmodule.seq_module import SequenceDescriptor, SequenceModule
  from fs.errors import ResourceNotFoundError
  
  log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
  
  
  
  class CourseDescriptor(SequenceDescriptor):
      module_class = SequenceModule
  
      def __init__(self, system, definition=None, **kwargs):
          super(CourseDescriptor, self).__init__(system, definition, **kwargs)
          
          try:
              self.start = time.strptime(self.metadata["start"], "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M")
          except KeyError:
              self.start = time.gmtime(0) #The epoch
              log.critical("Course loaded without a start date. " + str(self.id))
          except ValueError, e:
              self.start = time.gmtime(0) #The epoch
              log.critical("Course loaded with a bad start date. " + str(self.id) + " '" + str(e) + "'")
      
      def has_started(self):
          return time.gmtime() > self.start
  
      @classmethod
      def id_to_location(cls, course_id):
          org, course, name = course_id.split('/')
          return Location('i4x', org, course, 'course', name)
  
      @property
      def id(self):
          return "/".join([self.location.org, self.location.course, self.location.name])
  
      @property
      def start_date_text(self):
          return time.strftime("%m/%d/%y", self.start)
  
      @property
      def title(self):
          return self.metadata['display_name']
      
      @property
      def number(self):
          return self.location.course
          
      @property
      def wiki_namespace(self):
          return self.location.course
  
      @property
      def org(self):
          return self.location.org
new_contents: import time
  import dateutil.parser
  import logging
  
  from xmodule.modulestore import Location
  from xmodule.seq_module import SequenceDescriptor, SequenceModule
  from fs.errors import ResourceNotFoundError
  
  log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
  
  
  
  class CourseDescriptor(SequenceDescriptor):
      module_class = SequenceModule
  
      def __init__(self, system, definition=None, **kwargs):
          super(CourseDescriptor, self).__init__(system, definition, **kwargs)
          
          try:
              self.start = time.strptime(self.metadata["start"], "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M")
          except KeyError:
              self.start = time.gmtime(0) #The epoch
              log.critical("Course loaded without a start date. " + str(self.id))
          except ValueError, e:
              self.start = time.gmtime(0) #The epoch
              log.critical("Course loaded with a bad start date. " + str(self.id) + " '" + str(e) + "'")
      
      def has_started(self):
          return time.gmtime() > self.start
  
      @classmethod
      def id_to_location(cls, course_id):
          org, course, name = course_id.split('/')
          return Location('i4x', org, course, 'course', name)
  
      @property
      def id(self):
          return "/".join([self.location.org, self.location.course, self.location.name])
  
      @property
      def start_date_text(self):
          return time.strftime("%b %d, %Y", self.start)
  
      @property
      def title(self):
          return self.metadata['display_name']
      
      @property
      def number(self):
          return self.location.course
          
      @property
      def wiki_namespace(self):
          return self.location.course
  
      @property
      def org(self):
          return self.location.org
subject: Change how we display the start date to be internationally unambiguous.