my $Q = CGI->new();
my $DBH = DBI->connect( <connection string> )
	or die 'Error connecting: ' . DBI->errstr;

$Q = get_member( $Q, $DBH );

<snip>

sub get_member {
	my $q = shift;
	my $dbh = shift;

	my $sth = $dbh->prepare( <query string> ); # here's the error
	<do stuff>
}