#
#run_sql
# subroutine that does all of the work
#
sub run_sql{
my $sql = shift;

	my $sth = $dbh->prepare($sql);
	  if (!$sth) {
	      die "Error:" . $dbh->errstr ." while preparing ".$sql."\n";
	  }

	  if (!$sth->execute) {
	      die "Error:" . $sth->errstr ." while executing ".$sql."\n";
	  }

return $sth;
} # run_sql