sub get_account_status {
    my ($account_num) = shift;
    my $query = qq { SELECT a.STATUS 
                           FROM account a
		           WHERE a.ACCOUNT_NUMBER = ? };
    my $sth = $dbh->prepare_cached($query);
    $sth->execute($account_num);
    my $status = $sth->fetchrow_array;
    return uc($status);
}