function toDate(dateStr)
{
	// this procedure assumes that date is correct 
	
	var datePat = /^(\d{1,2})(\/)(\d{1,2})(\/)(\d{2}|\d{4})$/;

	var matchArray = dateStr.match(datePat); 
		
	month = matchArray[1]; // parse date into variables
	day = matchArray[3];
	year = matchArray[5];
	
	if (year.length == 2) 
	{
		if (Number(year)<50 && Number(year)>=0)
			year = "20" + year;
		else
			year = "19" + year;
	}
	
	return new Date(Number(year), Number(month)-1, Number(day));
}