$sth  = $dbh->prepare 
        (qq{SELECT article_title, article_author,
            DATE_FORMAT(article_date, '%W %M %D %Y') as my_date,
            article_body from news_articles 
            where article_id = ?});

$sth->execute($article);
$sth->bind_col (1, \$article_title);
$sth->bind_col (2, \$article_author);
$sth->bind_col (3, \$article_date);
$sth->bind_col (4, \$article_body);
$sth->fetch;