jquery (ui) integration library approach

[eluser]happydude[/eluser]
Here's a suggestion:

Link to your jquery and jquery ui scripts in the head section of your view.

Link to your own custom javscript file in the head section of your view and do something like this:
$('.datepicker').datepicker();

assign class="datepicker" to fields where you want a datepicker to show up.

You really don't need to PHPify javascript code... when you can pick virtually any element you want in the DOM with jQuery's sizzle selector engine.