using the x clipboard cut/paste functions from an xterm

Hi,

often when I'm reading mail or editing text in an xemacs session running 
from within an xterm I want to select text and make it available to 
other applications (usually openoffice).  I can do this with the mouse 
but that can be difficult when scrolling is jumpy... I'd like to be able 
to send the selected region straight to the x clipboard (not the x 
primary selection), preferably also using a key binding for that 
function.  I've tried using x-own-selection but it doesn't work for me. 
  is there a way to do this that I'm missing?

Again, I'm working from an xterm, not from a regular xemacs window.

Thanks for the help!

matt