Another person who was against the building of the UNI-Dome was Dr. Edward J. Thorne, a UNI speech professor. Thorne made a resolution that stated why he opposed the dome and presented it to the University of Northern Iowa faculty. Dr. Thorne's resolution had seven areas that really bothered him. His first area of concern was "the appropriations to our institutional objectives of the proposed UNI-Dome structure."⁸² His second concern was "the wisdom of building a large arena for athletic and other events in the face of a nationwide trend of declining enrollments."⁸³ His third concern was "the degree to which the student body was consulted on the matter of using their fees in support of the proposed UNI-Dome."⁸⁴ His fourth concern stated, "The probable value to the general student body of the proposed UNI Dome." His fifth concern was "the environmental impact of the construction of the proposed UNI-Dome and supporting facilities."⁸⁵ The sixth concern was "the safety to occupants of the proposed structure." The seventh and final concern was "the probable maintenance and replacement of costs once the UNI-Dome has been built and put into use and the source of funds for that maintenance and replacement."

    Some of the faculty members at the University of Northern Iowa were upset by Dr. Thorne's resolution against the UNI-Dome. Professor Donald Howard of the History Department was scared Dr. Thorne's resolution would pass and hurt the university's fundraising efforts in the future. Vice President, Dr. James Martin said he was "deeply troubled by the resolution's timing and its negative tone." He also said, "I’m apprehensive about its passage as it will affect the image of this institution as it approaches its centennial year." Thorne's response to some opposition by the faculty was that, "He felt it was his duty as a professor at the university to respond to the ideas and wishes of his students."⁸⁷ The faculty voted on Professor Thorne's resolution and they opposed it by a 5 to I margin. 202 of the UNI faculty members were in favor of the dome and 43 opposed the UNI-Dome. You can see the majority of the faculty was in favor the UNI-Dome and only a few thought it was a bad idea to build the dome.

    Dr. Edward Thorne's speech class decided to protest the fifteen-dollar athletic charge. The students in Thorne's class went to the gym and tried to get football tickets without paying for them like they were promised the year before. Athletic Director Stan Sheriff was present at the gym and a confrontation developed between the students and him for forty-five minutes. Students were yelling things to Sheriff about the new athletic charge such as; "It's a rip-off." and "Penny larceny."⁹¹ Sheriff told the students the best way to protest was to buy a ticket and hope that Paul Kilmer is successful in his suit against the university. He said, "If Kilmer is successful, you'll probably get your money back."⁹² After forty-five minutes the protest finally ended and the students didn't get their free football tickets that they set out to get. Dr. Thorne said about the protest, "This kind of communication is extremely beneficial, although you might not see the results in five minutes. The students were given a chance to say what was on their minds. There was shouting at the end, but it didn't start that way."