prior to 1971, "the carleton" had a tradition of naming its end-of-term issue as "the charlatan". citing a desire to have a more fun, pranksterish image in keeping with the political spirit of the times, editor-in-chief phil kinsman encouraged using that name permanently. "the charlatan" became the paper's official name after a staff referendum in march 1971. as the student body became progressively more fragmented, the paper distanced itself from the carleton university students' association (cusa) and became a self-appointed critic.