// make sure if the string is larger than one character, only take the first character
if (s.length() > 1)
s = new String((new Character(s.charAt(0))).toString());
try {
//BUG: make sure I am correct
return new CHAR(s, CharacterSet.make(CharacterSet.ISO_LATIN_1_CHARSET));
} catch (SQLException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
return null;
}