Are you talkin about Durso stand pipes or the DIY overflow?
If the standpipe, then no, they're to introduce air into the pipes and reduce the strength of the syphon and disrupt the vortices (sp?) that cause the gurgling or, someone else said it's to allow the air to excape through the tubing.
If the DIY overflow, then yes. You also want to glue a checkvalve in the hole so it doesn't suck air in.