Modify values in a dropdown?

Currently is there a way to modify values in a dropdown through the API?

I am exploring using checkbox for a client to satisfy another need we have here in out organization. There is a dropdown popluated everyday with certain values for that day. Currently these values already exist in a seperate database. I would like to pull these values from the other database and populate these values as available picks in a dropdown for a survey?

Possible y/n

Does anyone have any idea or answer on this? through API somehow... or through the stored procedures...

Steve.