I can't get openoffice impress to print as a handout.

I'm not sure where you're running into problems, but you might find this tutorial handy: http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/2005/11/printing_handou.html

In general though, slides should not be given as a hand out. Instead:

(1) go into the outline view
(2) select the text
(3) copy it into a word processing program (OOo Writer)
(4) make the text into sentences that can be read
(5) distribute this document as your hand out.

It will save paper and be easier to use as a resource after your presentation. Using this method I converted a 70+ slide presentation into a two page hand out. The slides are very, very short as I tend to use this style of presentation: http://presentationzen.blogs.com/presentationzen/2005/10/the_lessig_meth.html however, I think using the technique above will help to reduce paper for all styles of presentations.