JSP - Date objects from drop down list
===

So I currently have a registration.html page that holds two dates in a drop down list.

        <td>Preferred Date:</td>
        <td><select name="datePreferred">
                <option value="dateOne">08/18/2012</option>
                <option value="dateTwo">08/25/2012</option>
        </select>
        </td>
For my JSP page I have the following

        <%
        String dPreferred = request.getParameter("datePreferred");
        SimpleDateFormat dateFormat = new SimpleDateFormat("mm/dd/yyyy");
        Date dateObj = dateFormat.parse(dPreferred);
        %>

However I seem to be getting "Cannot find symbol - symbol: class Date - location: class SimplifiedJSPServlet

What I am trying to do is create and store a date object that can be written to a text file and also displayed on a verification page.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated :). 