If it's for a rider and you're not bothered about preserving the rims then sure why not.... but i've seen some araya rims over on BMXMUSEUM.COM in decent shape get butcherised with pro-class holes and i think they'd have been better left alone.
Here's a pic from the site - there's others up there as well (link below pic) :
The thread is also good for general Araya rim info / dates etc.
http://bmxmuseum.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=13525 (Third post down has the rims with the holes !)