diff --git a/symposion/boxes/urls.py b/symposion/boxes/urls.py
index dc57fe6bd7fe5147a39210669f116f9086cd5cc2..993ec13603c4d1ee00bc835b61306397412b6d1f 100644
--- a/symposion/boxes/urls.py
+++ b/symposion/boxes/urls.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
-from django.conf.urls.defaults import url, patterns
+from django.conf.urls import url, patterns
 
 
 urlpatterns = patterns("symposion.boxes.views",
     url(r"^([-\w]+)/edit/$", "box_edit", name="box_edit"),
-)
\ No newline at end of file
+)
diff --git a/symposion/cms/urls.py b/symposion/cms/urls.py
index 3297ce53b69a3be359d133dde12f34245613809d..355746ea9bb2d6ffda57bff5e5fb90307dc42dd2 100644
--- a/symposion/cms/urls.py
+++ b/symposion/cms/urls.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from django.conf.urls.defaults import url, patterns
+from django.conf.urls import url, patterns
 
 PAGE_RE = r"(([\w-]{1,})(/[\w-]{1,})*)/"
 
diff --git a/symposion/conference/urls.py b/symposion/conference/urls.py
index 6bd44c16c49fac3f86d32543e4a729fc35f15fb2..90ae79f852d53cc4e329aa576be3fd9f7e6881b0 100644
--- a/symposion/conference/urls.py
+++ b/symposion/conference/urls.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from django.conf.urls.defaults import *
+from django.conf.urls import patterns, url
 
 
 urlpatterns = patterns("symposion.conference.views",
diff --git a/symposion/proposals/models.py b/symposion/proposals/models.py
index e70af55035d5caef2d5362dde52cefdd7c19637b..6d51bc60879d74ff4ba5e594d858d1e8cc7cde70 100644
--- a/symposion/proposals/models.py
+++ b/symposion/proposals/models.py
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-import datetime
 import os
 import uuid
 
@@ -6,6 +5,7 @@ from django.core.urlresolvers import reverse
 from django.db import models
 from django.db.models import Q
 from django.utils.translation import ugettext_lazy as _
+from django.utils.timezone import now
 
 from django.contrib.auth.models import User
 
@@ -37,20 +37,18 @@ class ProposalSection(models.Model):
     
     @classmethod
     def available(cls):
-        now = datetime.datetime.now()
         return cls._default_manager.filter(
-            Q(start__lt=now) | Q(start=None),
-            Q(end__gt=now) | Q(end=None),
+            Q(start__lt=now()) | Q(start=None),
+            Q(end__gt=now()) | Q(end=None),
             Q(closed=False) | Q(closed=None),
         )
     
     def is_available(self):
         if self.closed:
             return False
-        now = datetime.datetime.now()
-        if self.start and self.start > now:
+        if self.start and self.start > now():
             return False
-        if self.end and self.end < now:
+        if self.end and self.end < now():
             return False
         return True
     
@@ -96,7 +94,7 @@ class ProposalBase(models.Model):
         help_text=_("Anything else you'd like the program committee to know when making their selection: your past experience, etc. This is not made public. Edit using <a href='http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/basics' target='_blank'>Markdown</a>.")
     )
     submitted = models.DateTimeField(
-        default=datetime.datetime.now,
+        default=now,
         editable=False,
     )
     speaker = models.ForeignKey("speakers.Speaker", related_name="proposals")
@@ -166,7 +164,7 @@ class SupportingDocument(models.Model):
     proposal = models.ForeignKey(ProposalBase, related_name="supporting_documents")
     
     uploaded_by = models.ForeignKey(User)
-    created_at = models.DateTimeField(default=datetime.datetime.now)
+    created_at = models.DateTimeField(default=now)
     
     file = models.FileField(upload_to=uuid_filename)
     description = models.CharField(max_length=140)
diff --git a/symposion/proposals/urls.py b/symposion/proposals/urls.py
index 85e2bb1c5debb8401c38f8a2f3ca926244a939a2..3a53558fa16d97ec47a329b0c7ac32a76ec66fdf 100644
--- a/symposion/proposals/urls.py
+++ b/symposion/proposals/urls.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from django.conf.urls.defaults import *
+from django.conf.urls import patterns, url
 
 
 urlpatterns = patterns("symposion.proposals.views",
diff --git a/symposion/proposals/views.py b/symposion/proposals/views.py
index cf532c2b5bc5c712db723b407f0206325ec19b4f..9754c93fe272b92b35e3150d0a1ed78d12b4f326 100644
--- a/symposion/proposals/views.py
+++ b/symposion/proposals/views.py
@@ -6,7 +6,12 @@ from django.core.exceptions import ObjectDoesNotExist
 from django.db.models import Q
 from django.http import Http404, HttpResponse, HttpResponseForbidden
 from django.shortcuts import render, redirect, get_object_or_404
-from django.utils.hashcompat import sha_constructor
+
+try:
+    from hashlib import sha1 as sha_constructor
+except ImportError:
+    from django.utils.hashcompat import sha_constructor
+
 from django.views import static
 
 from django.contrib import messages
diff --git a/symposion/reviews/urls.py b/symposion/reviews/urls.py
index 564bd35ebe68774750475716d89e1215c525d3bc..c918d2f1b8ab0c768e9cd62c484755cd67214253 100644
--- a/symposion/reviews/urls.py
+++ b/symposion/reviews/urls.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from django.conf.urls.defaults import patterns, url
+from django.conf.urls import patterns, url
 
 
 urlpatterns = patterns("symposion.reviews.views",
diff --git a/symposion/schedule/urls.py b/symposion/schedule/urls.py
index 58890827b1f63a0be3d9c3c423789ae769b0875b..049aa7da04110ed6665f2279bb90bfeae6186a34 100644
--- a/symposion/schedule/urls.py
+++ b/symposion/schedule/urls.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from django.conf.urls.defaults import url, patterns
+from django.conf.urls import url, patterns
 
 
 urlpatterns = patterns("symposion.schedule.views",
diff --git a/symposion/speakers/urls.py b/symposion/speakers/urls.py
index fa7055cf5748e6a706bc4b44a9e3b7e2faa11d07..fb30e7877ee714610f28b0282dd9115c8cff28ba 100644
--- a/symposion/speakers/urls.py
+++ b/symposion/speakers/urls.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from django.conf.urls.defaults import *
+from django.conf.urls import patterns, url
 
 
 urlpatterns = patterns("symposion.speakers.views",
diff --git a/symposion/sponsorship/urls.py b/symposion/sponsorship/urls.py
index e5d32bb0bec1266f84be261e9becc04bd72b9fdd..c7dc581cb154012efc1817825c509c45b64bb614 100644
--- a/symposion/sponsorship/urls.py
+++ b/symposion/sponsorship/urls.py
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
-from django.conf.urls.defaults import patterns, url
-from django.views.generic.simple import direct_to_template
+from django.conf.urls import patterns, url
+from django.views.generic import TemplateView
 
 
 urlpatterns = patterns("symposion.sponsorship.views",
-    url(r"^$", direct_to_template, {"template": "sponsorship/list.html"}, name="sponsor_list"),
+    url(r"^$", TemplateView.as_view(template_name="sponsorship/list.html"), name="sponsor_list"),
     url(r"^apply/$", "sponsor_apply", name="sponsor_apply"),
     url(r"^add/$", "sponsor_add", name="sponsor_add"),
     url(r"^(?P<pk>\d+)/$", "sponsor_detail", name="sponsor_detail"),
diff --git a/symposion/teams/urls.py b/symposion/teams/urls.py
index 01145f41c8b1536087ed3199ae45aad6b3dccfeb..a5eb3b8e835458f7fae4261299d63d2271b6295a 100644
--- a/symposion/teams/urls.py
+++ b/symposion/teams/urls.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from django.conf.urls.defaults import *
+from django.conf.urls import patterns, url
 
 
 urlpatterns = patterns("symposion.teams.views",