// For some reason, using the ternary operator as shown below causes
        // an ExecutionEngineException. Since these exceptions "should never occur"
        // according to MSDN, this is a .NET bug. [Jon Aquino 2005-08-08]
        //
        // return date == null ? (Object) DBNull.Value : convert(date);
        if (date == null) {
            return DBNull.Value; 
        }
        return convert(date);