telnet_login($username,$password,$host,\$telnet);
......
sub telnet_login
{   
    use Net::Telnet;
    my ($username, $password, $host, $telnet) = @_;
    my $error_msg= "Incorrect username or password, please try again";
    $$telnet = new Net::Telnet (Timeout=>7,
#                       Errmode=>\&report_error($error_msg));
####the above line is the one spoken of in my description####################

$$telnet->dump_log("./Plog.log");  # generate log
    $$telnet->open(Host=>$host);  
    $$telnet->login($username,$password);
}
..........
sub report_error
{
  my $thing = shift;
  print $thing;
  die;
}