Unless you plan to live in the dorms all the years of your undergraduate career — and I wouldn’t recommend it — you will more than likely get to experience the joy of moving from one abode to the next. As if transporting all your belongings from one apartment to the next wasn’t enough of an ordeal, you probably know that nearly everyone who does not live in university housing moves in on the same date. Talk about mass chaos and congestion.

There is another aspect of the move-in process the city of Madison has yet to really address, and that is “Homeless Night.”

Some time ago, landlords throughout the Madison area banded together to begin leases Aug. 15 and end them the next year on Aug. 14. Sure, you are living in your residence for exactly one year, but you cannot move into your next place until Aug. 15. Where do you go for this night when you are living at neither your new residence nor your old one? Students can opt to rent a hotel room if they have the means to do so, stay with an obscure relative in town, or do what many have done in the past — sleep in their cars.

Not surprisingly, this ridiculous practice is not an issue on most campuses across the United States. Two bitter rivals of the University of Wisconsin — the University of Minnesota and the University of Michigan — both have separate systems for dealing with the issue of off-campus student housing.

According to the University of Minnesota’s Housing and Residential Life Office, “most rentals begin on the first of the month,” though the starting dates of leases can vary. There is also a two-week period in which students are not residing in these off-campus residences. During this interlude, a student can negotiate with his or her landlord to arrange an earlier or later move-in date.

The University of Michigan has a similar two-week period during the summer. Because the gap is much larger than the one day experienced by students here, students often opt to return home or arrange temporary accommodations.

Even UW-Milwaukee is able to provide arrangements that are currently not widely available in Madison. According to the Neighborhood Housing Office, the lease system in Milwaukee is fairly flexible. Landlords often provide students with the option of signing nine-month leases as opposed to the typical 12-month lease in Madison. Along with this flexibility, students are encouraged to negotiate early move-in dates with their landlords.

If these systems are able to function relatively well at other universities in comparable size to us, why on earth does Madison have this “Homeless Night” issue?

Well, one answer could be that no one is really pressing landlords to offer flexible leases. The Tenant Resource Center provides a list of “Landlords and Management Companies That May Be More Flexible.” Included on the list are both Wisconsin Management and Madison Property Management. However, “may be more flexible” is nowhere near a guarantee that these management agencies are going to be willing to compromise.

Madison students need to request a guarantee for a more flexible lease. It is unsafe for students to be sleeping in cars during this awkward, 24-hour transition period. It also reflects poorly on the city of Madison as a whole that there has been very little progress in solving this recurring issue.

Many students across campus have already signed leases for next year, so the opportunity for action for the 2008-09 school year may have already come and gone. I would strongly encourage students to attempt to negotiate leases in the future. If it is working in Minnesota, Michigan and Milwaukee — why not give it a shot here in Madison?

If landlords are unwilling to listen, I suggest an alternative that does not solve the problem, but that will help alleviate the stresses involved. Let us fill the Kohl Center with the displaced students for that night and provide police protection for our U-Haul vans and vehicles filled with our belongings. Come on Madison; it is the least you can do.

Hannah Karns ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in political science and international studies.